Tancredi's a Pig

Book Cover I was completely surprised by the views of Tancredi. In the beginning of the novel when he meets Sophie, all of small things that he says in his own mind are all so condescending toward women and I was totally surprised that a female author would write that in there. I’m guessing that she might be retaliating as a woman against what she might think that men really think. If this is the case then I am very sad to think that these archaic views are what the men in her life see, that this is the only kind of man she knows.
As the story just begins to unfold, Tancredi is given the task of offering wine to all of the guests at his sister’s party. The only one who accepts his offer is this strange, foreign-looking woman whom he knows nothing about. He immediately begins building his image of her based solely on his evaluation of her looks. And he is not at all lenient. His critical analysis leads him to the conclusion that she is not that special. So his first impression is already set. Then there are small instances where she will say something and he will think some snarky remark. Like when she tells him that she studied in Florence and he thinks, “Of course, she studied art history because they never study anything else.”
He also shows that he doesn’t like being in anyway in danger of being inferior to a woman. He does not like the sound of a “clever woman,” he finds it unattractive probably because he feels threatened by it. To combat this, there is a specific point in his conversation when he is distracted by his sister and he deliberately turns his back to Sophie, so that, however petty, he can show that he is somehow in control and she is not that consequensial to him. Shirley Hazzard has practically made the man in her story to be a pig, and I’m not entirely sure if I can concur with her cynical view of men.