Represention of the male-gaze

Susanna Moore's In the Cut recounts harsh and cruel events in the protagonist's life, Frannie. The plot is filled by many different types of violence that we can find all through the novel. Indeed, the notion of violence is characterized by, firstly, on a physical aspect, notable with all the reported different murders, including Pauline's, Frannie's step-sister, and a physical pain that Frannie receives when her nipple is cut off by a man. Then, the brutality is also through language regarding the way certain characters talk and the vocabulary they use or again through the look, based on the idea of voyeurism and the "male gaze". Afterward, all of these acts of violence are mainly directed towards women, accentuated with a trope that is central in popular culture : the "final girl" confronted with the full force of a ruthless predatory force where she is trapped in male influence and without option. It could be seen as archetypal narrative scheme : a descent into an existential Inferno. The only way for to get free from this control would be to do a final thing for herself, so she would becomes her own "deus ex machina". Finally, owing to the male-centered violence, we can see two different aspects, such as a schematic contrast notable for opposite elements put together and the notion of prey predator relationship that reinforces the idea of taking control over someone.