Sexual Fantasies and Fetishism
The babysitter who is the protagonist of the story is the object of desire for four male characters of the story. The little child Jimmy, whom she is babysitting, has a childlike crush on his babysitter. He is curious about the human body and wants to peek and see the babysitter naked. He imagines her spanking him and acts on that desire by playing a naughty child who tickles her, refuses to bathe, and does not listen to what she asks him to do, in the hopes that she will get angry and spank him. Spanking in sexual relationships is used as a fetish. Mr. Tucker, who is Jimmy’s father, lusts over the babysitter. He thinks about her body in great detail and fantasizes about it. In one scenario he doesn’t act on this desire and in the other extreme, he rapes his babysitter in his own home. It is never made clear which scenario actually happens. The babysitter’s boyfriend, Jack, and his friend Mark also have fantasies about the babysitter. Jack’s fantasies are more innocent as compared to Mark. Jack fantasizes about the “soft touch” that females have. In one scenario Jack wants to become the hero who saves the babysitter from sexual advances of Mark while in the other extreme of the spectrum, Mark and Jack rape the babysitter. Through these instances, it can be known that sexual fantasies and fetishism are implicit themes of the short story The Babysitter.
Discontent and Infidelity
Dolly and Harry seem to be discontent with their marriage. While Harry doesn’t find his wife attractive anymore, he fantasizes about the babysitter who has “adolescent flesh”. Harry doesn’t once talk to his wife in a romantic way but engages in flirting with the host. His sexual desires have no place for his wife. He doesn’t like the way she looks after having three of his children. On the other hand, Dolly craves love and attention which she doesn’t get from her husband. Her image of “self” is shaped by the way men look and talk to her. Mark’s father, the host, tries to be nice to her by giving her compliments and casually taking her side when she has an argument with Harry. The smallest kind gesture leads her to believe that he has fallen in love with her because such gentle love is unknown to her. The dissatisfaction of Dolly and Harry in their marriage leads them to find comfort and love from people outside their relationship.
Wasteful entertainment
Televisions had become a part of the lifestyle of the rich American class by the 1960s. It had led to saturation of entertainment in an average home. Throughout the story, the television of the Tuckers’ house is on and the writer draws parallels of the programs showing on the television with the events that take place in the story. Although the television is only a background concept, it comes to be of importance when the writer starts pointing out how consciously and subconsciously, the actions of the characters are influenced by the programs shown on the television. One such example is when the babysitter makes conscious efforts to bathe the kids and send them to bed as early as possible so that she can find the time to watch television although she is supposed to read her books. In the last paragraph of the story, in one possibility where everything has gone horribly wrong, Dolly, who has lost her whole family, is unable to grieve or make out what has really happened. She suggests she wants to see what is on the late movie when such a tragedy has occurred. The character of Dolly is constantly tensed and suppressed and the last dialogue about watching the television in such a state of tragedy does not sit right with her character curve. This suggests that the writer is trying to explore the theme of wastefulness in entertainment and how it makes the characters take strange decisions.
Gender Roles
The story follows very rigidly conventional gender roles which become an implicit theme of the story. In the starting of the story, Dolly rushes from one chore to another, hurriedly. She takes care that the children eat properly and that the dishes get done. She also makes sure that her husband gets ready on time. We come to know that she is the one who takes care of the house in the way she talks about little details from which she makes out that the babysitter brought her boyfriend home and may have taken a bath. On the other hand, Mr. Tucker has a lazy way of getting ready. He doesn’t have much to do around the house. He doesn’t even know where his pants are. He is least bothered about the kids and he gets drunk even before going to the party and yet he is the one who drives the car. Towards the middle of the story, Dolly says, “Harry, you won’t let them take me to a rest home, will you, Harry?”This fear of hers shows how she is dependent on Harry for not only the important decisions of her life but also for her self-image. Work inside and outside of the home has been distributed among the husband and wife based on their gender and not capabilities.
Objectification
A lot of attention is given to the female body as a source of sexual desire without taking in mind the emotions, capabilities, or intellectual desires of those females which are objectified. Mr. Tucker allows himself to freely think about the body of the babysitter despite her having shown no interest in him. Similarly, Mark also indulges in the objectification of the babysitter. He carries out an evil plan to rape the babysitter and shows no regards for her wishes. He sees her as an object for satisfying his sexual hunger. It is a violation of sorts that stems from the belief that women are objects whose role in society is sexual satisfaction for men. Mrs. Tucker engages in objectifying herself as she gets conscious about her looks and keeps adjusting her garter to look slimmer throughout the story.
