Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo is Dee’s new name. This in an attempt to live what she believes is her heritage while leaving the oppression and poverty behind, which actually has created a wedge between herself and the rest of her immediate family. Symbolism and the use of tangible items used every day bring Dees perception and her mother’s perception of heritage to places that are completely opposite of one another. The story takes place within an oppressed black family in the 1960’s during the Civil Rights movement when young blacks were searching to find themselves and their true African heritage. Mama, which is also the narrator, takes pride in sweeping the dirt in the yard which is referred to as an “extended living room only with a breeze and an ability to look up into the elm tree.” Mama states that she has “deliberately turned her back on her house” and describes it as “not having windows and a tin roof “and seems to be perfectly satisfied with these living conditions.
Even women who were freeborn could not choose their husbands because that decision was left for her family to make. The lack of ability for a woman to make her own decisions contributed to the ambiguity between enslavement and being freeborn. Clifford, the son of Pa Palaganda, was known for having sexual relations with his female slaves. As Clifford became fond of his slave Ojebeta, he started to view her as a potential wife because she could read, write her name, sew, and cook civilized food. When Clifford disclosed his thoughts of one day marrying Ojebeta he simply told her what would transpire in a fairly non demanding way.
The motivation for passing as white woman in Clare's life does not mean that she feels that being African American is below being white, but she feels that passing allows her to escapes the struggles that most African American's faced at the time and she will further be able to endure greater economic and social opportunities. The way Irene only "passes" as a white woman when she feels is necessary shows that passing to her means that the color of her skin is something she can use to her advantage and doesn't fully respect her race. Though she is married to a successful African American man, she still feels that her high status in the black society is not enough as times. Through Irene's character, Larsen shows readers that passing as a different race can severely shred the dignity of a person. Irene is generally proud of being African American but when she passes as a white woman on occasion, you can tell that she loses some of her dignity since she feels as if she is sinking down to Clare's level.
From the beginning when we were first introduced to Dee, we find that she has changed her name to Wangero saying that Dee is “dead” because she didn’t think her name, Dicie, had any cultural significance and so she choice a name she felt suited her more. She says she couldn’t bear being named after people who oppress her. She has no connection or respect with her family. This is sad because she doesn’t like who she once was. Although she has learned a lot from her schooling and has a better knowledge than her mom & sister, I feel she possesses this know-it-all attitude about what heritage really is.
I assume that she wants a divorce from her husband but because of the role that society has placed on her, but she is unable to get one because she is very dependent on him. It sounds to me that she is jealous of her male friend who is looking for another wife. It was him and his situation that she was thinking of that brought her to the conclusion that she herself wants a wife. Her situation leads me to believe that during this time in history women were not meant to show signs of aggression, jealousy, or anger because it was a mans world. In Brady’s eyes a wife is a basically a slave at home who cannot have a life of her own.
Is Oroonoko a story about race and slavery, or is it primarily a story about social class? Support your answer with reference to, and close reading of, the text. Oroonoko is a short story, which is believed to be an anti-slavery act but it is not believed that write Behn was against slavery, is one of how an African price and his wife tragically fall into slavery and brought to a place named Surinam as slaves. The story describes how the couple are promised freedom several times yet constantly let down. Narrated by a British woman, who later flees during a revolt continues to tell of the account she has received first hand of how the prince and his wife were separated by slavery but yet, were brought back together as a result of it.
For example, turning down Mr. Collins may demonstrateher as a no-brainer woman among the society at that time. But by rejecting him, this suggests that Elizabeth places her own judgment over social pressures to comfort. In spite of the fact that she has been forced to get married with Mr. Collins by her mother, she persists to her strong position of rejecting his proposal. Plus, although Lady Catherine tries to strong-arm her into rejecting any proposal from Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth gets angry and asks her to get away. Hence, it can be noticed how Austen stresses on the empowerment of women through Elizabeth’s
Henrik Ibsen depicts how the conscious and subconscious motives and desires are obtained. Kristine Linde is a woman who has had to give up her dreams due to circumstances beyond her control. She was once in love but because her mother “was bedridden and helpless”and she “had to provide for two younger brothers”(Ibsen, 2011, p. 556) she was forced to marry for convenience of the situation. We can tell this has made her look at life in a more realistic and wise view than that of her friend Mrs Nora Helmer the main character. Mrs Linde has had to work hard and was not afforded love and children which she longed to have.
In 1977, Dangarembga returned to England to study medicine. No longer a child living in a foreign culture, she witnessed and fully understood the often racist or racially stereotypical attitudes held by many members of English society. Returning to Zimbabwe in 1980, just before the nation became self-governing and independent, she began to develop in earnest as a writer. Despite years of rejection and lack of acknowledgment, Nervous Conditions was eventually published in England, four years after Dangarembga had completed it.Dangarembga was born in 1959 in a small town in Zimbabwe that was known as the colony of Rhodesia. She lived in England from the ages of two to six while her parents attended school there.
The Cousin Obed Ramotswe’s cousin had a good influence on Precious Ramatswe. Throughout the novel we learn how strong their relationship was and how the cousin helped her to develop. The cousin was married, but when her husband found out she could not have children they divorced. She went to live with her mother in a very small three-walled room. Her mother was very disappointed in her and treated her without respect or caring.