Representation of Madness and Blackness in Eva’s Man by Gayl Jones

Eva’s Man by Gayl Jones
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Eva’s Man by Gayl Jones
Eva’s Man is a fascinating story of a woman who is unable to love because of the pain she experienced in her previous relationship.  She was imprisoned for the murder of her husband by poisoning his drink with arsenic (Jones, 2019). While in incarceration in a psychiatric prison in upstate New York, she remembers her life story and how it led to the murder of her husband, Davis. Early on, she grew up in an environment where she is sexually harassed and as a result, she became a confused soul in her later years. Eva uses both memories of her past and fantasies to show how her life was characterized by sexual abuse, brutality, and emotional silence.
Representation of Madness
Eva is taken to a psychiatric prison after she bites off Davis's penis and kills him. The prison was meant for those women who were perceived to be mentally ill.  As a result, the character in the story and critics see her as a mad woman. Madness is represented as a states where an individual can only be a victim and no one can understand them. After going through the book, the reader also notices that Eva and Davis met in a bar and they spent four days in a hotel room (Jones, 2019). Sometimes the story indicates that it was against her will. Additionally, in the interview with her psychiatrist and her cellmate, the reader gathers that she had been sexually abused her entire life by men who sometimes were supposed to protect her.
Eva’s madness is a core aspect of the novel’s plot and structure. Eva castrated her husba...