One of the hardest things to do as a parent is to let our adult children actually be adults - free to make their own mistakes, and live their own lives. It's very difficult to let go of the parent of a child role - and be the parent of an adult. All the time when tell my mom “not to worry” about me and she responses with “You will understand when you will have a child and become a parent”. When it comes to Maynard’s store, I don’t see anything wrong when Maynard went through her daughter’s e-mail account. Because every mother would worry about her daughter if she does not
This is a reoccurring theme in many of Coopers works, including “The Pioneers” which one could say center on Elizabeth Temple as thinly disguised reworkings of Cooper's sister's untimely death. According to Taylor, “the main difference between his life and his art was that in the latter James was able to manufacture a timely rescue for Elizabeth-the precise thing he could not do (and for which he could not forgive himself) -- for Hannah” (Taylor 326). Many people consider Cooper as “America’s first Author” (Reuben 1). Whilst being very celebrated, Cooper is known to be widely criticized. His unorthodox style has drawn many
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and Top Girls By Caryl Churchill both feature motherhood and marriage as one of their main themes even though the texts were set at different points in time. The Bell Jar was published in 1963 around the time of the publication of Betty Freidan’s Feminine Mystique. The Feminine Mystique stated that the ideal housewives of the 1960’s were a myth as each one of them were secretly unhappy but never spoke out about their unhappiness due to fear of not abiding by the social normality of the time. This feeling of displacement in the social norm is what Plath bases the experiences of protagonist Esther upon and what eventually drives Esther into mental instability. Motherhood and marriage is seen to be a key factor in the society of which The Bell Jar is set ,and is portrayed as one of the things that supresses female identity when Esther is asked to be “Mrs Buddy Willard” as if she is owned by Buddy and not her own person.
During a talk at the annual awards conference, Burns talked about how her mother, who raised Ursula single, in one of the worst New York City Public Housing Projects, loved to give advice. Ursula was the middle sibling among three. Her father was not around, but her mother was a confident woman who always expected great things from her kids. She taught Ursula how to strive and move up. Her mom always knew her way around a good deal and therefore she hustled to put them in private school.
Granted, she plays no part in the political activism, but she does so much to ensure the quality of life of her sisters’ families. On the verge of insanity, she pulls herself together and says aloud to herself, “Courage! It was the first time she had used that word to herself and understood exactly what it meant” (Pg 199). At this moment, she finally realizes that her courage consisted of staying strong for herself and her family instead of selfishly running away. She no longer puts herself down for what she thought was cowardice in not joining her more active sisters in a fight for a greater cause.
It isn’t that the grandmother is looking out for the safety of her family rather than the fact that she will go to any length to fulfill her desires. The grandmother sees “being a lady” as the most important virtue in life and unlike Weil focuses much of her time on materialistic objects and things like fancy dresses and belonging to a higher social status. Much of O'Connor's story emphasizes the grandmothers materialistic view on the world and how this view eventually hurts her. The grandmother discreetly seeks acknowledgement from others by bragging about her “connections” in Tennessee and a man who used to be her rich suitor through stories she tells to her family as if she has to prove to them she is a lady. Weil says that when you perform an action you should not do it seeking to be crowned hero but because heroism can be performed without desiring to prove to anyone that you have done something good for someone else without them asking.
Dee only wanted to lord over them her superior intelligence and education, therefore boosting her own ego. Dee does not hide her shame for the way that her mother and Maggie live by writing “no matter where [they] “choose” to live, she will manage to come see [them]. But she will never bring her friends.” Dee's harsh criticisms are not just pointed at her mother and Maggie as can be seen when the narrator points out “When [Dee] was courting Jimmy T she didn't have much time to pay us, but turned all her faultfinding power on him. He flew to marry a cheap city girl” (Walker 105). Notice the emphasized word flew.
I bought her a hot-water heater, and another one when it wore out…They were tiny things, inconsequential things. I did them because I was supposed to, because it was my turn to do things for her, and because I was trying to make up for any wrong I had ever done her.” (Bragg, pg. 151) His mother made many sacrifices for her boys when she was growing up, and Bragg was compassionate to his mother. He loved her so much and wanted her to live a comfortable life. This can strike a note with most readers, as most people feel attached to their mothers and would do anything to make them happy.
Growing up Dee was the one that got to attend school in Augusta because Mama and the community raised the money for her to go. Maggie barely has an education because she was not chosen to go to school Dee was though. Maggie is not resentful toward them about it she has simply moved on. As Dee is ransacking through the trunk Maggie gets upset. Maggie knows she deserves the quilts made by her grandmother and aunt far more than Dee does but of course Dee thinks that everything is about her and that she should have what she wants.
"” (Tan 518). She wanted her mother to love her for who she was and not the person she was expected to be. In spite of her mother’s high expectations, Jing-Mei did everything to thwart her mother’s ambitions. Jing-Mei was determined not to become the prodigy child her mother expected her to be. Jing-Mei had not yet discovered that her own identity was split between what her mother believed her to be and what she thought she was