She even criticizes her daughter with harsh words, “[O]on Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming” (Kincaid 150). Therefore, as the story progresses, the mother’s inner conflict becomes increasingly deeper. Moreover, Kincaid uses the girl as a protagonist and the mother as an antagonist to indicate the conflicts between the mother and the daughter. In spite of the mother’s long series of instructions and warnings, the girl cannot understand the mother’s expectation at the end of story. For example, after the mother says, “[A]always squeeze bread to make sure it’s fresh”, the girl answered pointlessly, “[B]but what if the baker
In Search Of Heritage In the story “Everyday Use” Alice Walker told the story from Mama’s point of view. The theme of this story is of a mother who is trying to cope with changing times and two daughters who are completely different. Having the story told from momma's point of view helps to reveal how momma feels about herself and how she defines her daughters Dee and Maggie. "Everyday Use" is told from momma's point of view which helps to reveal how she feels about herself. Momma feels that she is an uneducated person, she says "I never had an education myself," (157) this creates barriers between her and her daughter Dee who has a college education.
At the end due to the inability of Abby to succeed in her liberty, she witnesses lack of strength and the fear her mother has at the Blarney Stone. In Morrison’s Sula, the mother’s emotional and nurturing detachment from the daughters through generations helps all of them create a female-self identity. This lack of nurture may be a direct result of the maternal figure's focus on survival, as Eva can't take time to show love for her children but is able to sacrifice a leg to ensure physical endurance. In her mind these acts confess her love for them while in Hanna's head, the emotional connection that she needs from her mother is not present. As Hannah becomes a mother herself and a mother being the first model of love that the children experiences, she emotionally detaches herself from Sula as she was detached from her mother.
She gives her instructions on how to speak, act, cook, clean, and how to carry herself as a lady. The way that the daughter is spoken to is not in a gentle manner filled with love. The mother speaks down to her child telling her such things as, “this is how to behave in the presence of men who don’t know you very well, and this way they won’t recognize immediately the slut I have warned you against becoming” (Kincaid 44). This statement can lead to the belief that perhaps the girl within this story had done something that her mother had considered very slutty and she wasn’t going to let her daughter get away with thinking it was acceptable behavior. It can be assumed that this daughter probably just started her monthly period, from the line towards the beginning to “soak her little clothes right after she takes them off” (Kincaid 43).
According to Farrell, the story is being told by her mother and suggests that Dee may not really be the bad person that everyone claims she is (179). Farrell goes on to explain that the perceptions told by Mama are filtered through her mind and Mama’s views of her daughters are not to be accepted uncritically (179). Farrell’s approach to this piece was to try and take the reader to a different level of understanding and offer some other ways to view the heritage of both Mama and Dee. Issue In Susan Farrell’s essay, many questions are brought up about the interpretation of the story “Everyday Use”. One question Farrell brings up during the essay is, what is the true understanding and relationship between Dee and her mother?
The narrator states the mother’s resentment of Connie’s beauty because “her looks were gone and that was why she was always after Connie.”[451]. Connie doesn’t make the situation between the two any better by instigating her mother with curt answers and rude responses. “Her parents and her sister were going to a barbecue at an aunt’s house and Connie said ‘no’, she wasn’t interested, rolling her eyes to let her mother know exactly what she thought.”[453]. the only time Connie fully admits that she truly did love her mother was when she was crying in the phone for her. Connie’s father is a quiet bystander when it came to his wife and daughter heated arguments.
Emily is a minor character in the story and is the Mother’s first born child. Throughout the story the Mother leads the reader to believe that something is not quite right with her daughter. Olsen writes, “Even if I came, what good would it do? You think because I am her mother I have a key, or that in some way you could use me as a key?” (290). Olsen tells of her Daughter’s quiet and backward demeanor, “She was not glib or quick in a world where glibness and quickness were easily confused with ability to learn” (293).
This scene shows a parent who is unable to speak to her daughter, and she handles this disconnection with anger, which serves to make daughter less talkative. On the other hand, the parents in Mean Girls make an honest effort: in multiple scenes, Cady’s parents inquire as to how Cady’s day at school went, and do so in a kind and honestly interested tone. They go so far as to ask if Cady had made friends and how she is doing. They actually dote on her. In effect, the contrast between parents in these stories is striking because it directly affects how the reader and viewer feel toward the main character.
Her fight with self-discovery and her battle to find a place in society demonstrates the view that the women who do not fit into traditional roles should be ostracized from conventional society given that they pose the danger of change. It is clear that women like Susanna, who have little ambition in becoming a carbon copy of their mother, are seen as a threat and therefore classified as crazy. Susanna is clearly misinterpreted by her peers as well as the authority figures in her life. She is not a degenerate but a young girl frustrated with her limited options for the future. When Susanna is held after class by her teacher to discuss why she is the only senior not going on to college, she tries to reach out for support from her teacher, by explaining that she's not a druggie but she is concerned about ending up like her mother.
Then her absolute disregard for her duties as a wife angered him. When Mr. Pontellier became rude, Edna grew insolent“ (Chopin, 2005, chap.19 para.2) When Mr. Pontellier seemed to speak his mind to her that’s when his wife would get rude and ignore him and tune off of what he was talking about when it came down to him talking about her needing to be a good mom and wife. She would say something like this “"I feel like painting," answered Edna. "Perhaps I shan't always feel like it (Chopin, 2005, chap.19 para.3) Then Mr. Pontellier would act out of his normal character and get very submissive and bold with his wife with a comment such as, “Then in God's name paint! but don't let the family go to the devil.