Three Authors on Cheating and Gender

Three Authors on Cheating and Gender
Introduction
Each of the authors documented in this paper describes their personal take on cheating and gender. The world of is full of men and women who lie, love, and cheat on other. Every human is fallible because they are human. Each of the stories is about choices, and the ability to make the right choice. Diaz’s story is written like a diary in the first person. Atwood’s is written in the third person, more like an observation. The third is a critique of Diaz’s. Many of the stories are just about choices, and the consequences. In Junot Diaz’s short story Cheater’s Guide to Love, he cheats on his fiancé. In Margaret Atwood’s Happy Ending, She provides several different endings and suggests the reader pick one. These stories happen every day in the real world. These next paragraphs will disseminate each story, along with a comparison by Summer DuPree’s writings On Sex, Lies, and Diaspora. She writes about Diaz’s story.
Each of these author’s perceptions is gender specific. All have some experience with love and hate. It seems these authors are disillusioned about love. The third author analyzes Diaz with the perspective of what he writes in the story. Dupree writes “that living one’s life in two countries is an excuse for cheating.” It is a personal choice he made and lost the woman of his dreams. This story comes across as him feeling sorry for what he did to change his life forever. Regret is an emotion everyone is familiar with.
“Cheating is okay if no one finds out.

Not so fast, there is hell to pay if one is caught cheating” (Dupree, 1). In Diaz’s case, he is the man who had many lovers. His fiancé discovering him cheating never occurred to him (Diaz, 2). This is a traditional masculine sentiment (Dupree, 1). What about the females in the same scenario, did they make an educated choice? The gender specific roles in the storylines suggest it is ok for men to cheat. In her essay, Dupree examines Diaz’s view of Dominican-American manhood and thinks it may contribute to the infidelity. “The fact, that Diaz lives in two worlds, and fails in both, because of this cheating. DuPree says, “Yunior’s failed attempts at relationships with women often mirror his relationship with Santo Domingo, which is of great interest,” (Dupree, 1). It eventually, that comes back to bite them. It hurts everyone involved when it does. Cheating is a very personal choice that can end relationships. Nationality has nothing to do with it. It is about Diaz making willful choices to step out on his fiancé. What he regrets is her catching him and the consequences of those acts. It seems to have cost his health and well-being. Atwood’s story gives the reader a choice. Her point is there is always a choice, even if it is the wrong one. DuPree appears to excuse his cheating by examining the surface facts only. “There is more to the story than first appearances. No one is perfect and his fiancé must have faults. He did not enlighten the reader, and it usually takes two to destroy a relationship,” (Dupree, 1) Gender affects the story. She pokes fun at the male gender role in Diaz’s story (DuPree, 1).
Atwood’s essay makes one belief these different endings for different couples, could be about freedom and choice. Life always comes down to what is right and what is easy. The temptation is always there. It is how humans react to it and about personal growth. The future is not set, and changes with each personal choice. Gender plays a role in each ending. Each couple presents how life is. It is about choice, and sometimes humans make the wrong one. It always comes down to poor communication between people. Couples must interact, and it takes real work to build a life between two people (Atwood, 3). Feelings matter, and when couples fail to communicate, the relationship goes south in a hurry. All the stories look at traditional male/female roles. Love and happiness are personal and the couple must work together to make it a success. It takes two investing in the future, and honesty and sincerity are critical parts of loving and happy relationships. Dupree points out, “That Diaz’s gender, nationality, points to potential reasons for why he cheated.”
Conclusion
All the authors wrote more about infidelity as opposed to fidelity. This is the way of the world in many relationships. Life brings everyone trials and choices. It is about freedom of choice, and how humans react to it, that measures them on the right or wrong of cheating. In all the stories, the male role is traditional. The choice is a personal one. Life always comes down to what is right and what is easy. The critique by Dupree is about gender stereotypes. That temptation is the hardest to resist. Not everyone succeeds in making the right choice. Each author has an opinion. Atwood analyzes each ending as a wrong choice except for the first one. Gender affects decisions made by the author. Each author presents an opinion about how traditional gender roles.
Choosing infidelity never ends the way one thinks it would. Males tend to cheat and some females are not okay with that. What makes one choose infidelity over a happily married life with family and children. Only the person who cheats may know that answer. It is such a personal choice. Both Atwood and Dupree comment on the male gender in different ways. Diaz writes about regret but is honest about what happened in the end because he has no choice but to accept and move on. Life would be very different if one cheater listened to that inner voice and decides not to follow through. This would make life boring if everything is perfect. Most humans who feel the need to cheat never listen to that inner voice of reason. Does that make one ponder that question after the fact? Only the cheater knows, and they are not being honest with themselves. Most would call that basic human nature. These authors wrote about what they know personally. The authors have specific ideas about gender. They present a view of how gender affects relationships. Life is about choice, and the wisdom to make the right choice when it affects others in their personal circle. Gender does affect relationships. Each gender has a different concept of what is good and what is not, and sometimes they match. As in real life, there is always more to the story. In Atwood’s is to just pick one and move on. Diaz just wants her back. Dupree gives Diaz a critique but excuses him because he is from Santo Domingo.
Works Cited
Atwood, Margaret Happy Endings Ebook 1983
Diaz, Junot. The Cheaters Guide to Love, New Yorker PDF
http://newyorker.com/magazine/2012/07/23/the-cheaters-guide-to-love
DuPree, Summer Sex, Lies, and Diaspora: Constructions of Masculinity and Compulsive
Infidelity in Junot Díaz’s “The Cheater’s Guide to Love, College of Arts and Sciences
2015Web
http://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/as_15/49/