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.
She “shoves them away” when they are about to reach the same level of understanding as she does. Dee would sever any possible connection between her family, just as easily as a plug from a wall. When Dee comes back from school when she is older she greets her mother by saying “Wasuzo-Teano” a greeting her mother does not understand, and Dee knows this. Her education creates a language barrier and this further conveys how detached Dee is from her family. Adding to the effect, Dee announces that she no longer goes by the name Dee, but now identifies herself as Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo, which is
Annie feels as though her mother is not trust worthy: “ Why, I wonder, didn’t I see the hypocrite in my mother when, over the years, she said that she loved me and could hardly live with out me, while at the same time proposing and arranging separation after separation, including this one. […](Kincaid 89) Annie thinks her mother wants her completely gone from her life. She does not trust that her mother truly loves her and will miss her. She believes that since her mother is the one who set up this separation, she is not as truthful and loving as Annie once believed. Similarly, Lairds sister also felt her mother was not trustworthy: “ My mother I felt was not to be trusted.”(Munro 50) Lairds sister was unwillingly forced by her mother, to stay in the house all day and fill countless jars with various fruits, instead of being outside in the fields with her father doing the work she loved.
Her husband left early on in Emily’s life and her mother was forced to leave her with friends or send her to day care. “…and I did not know then what I know now- the fatigue of the long day, and the lacerations of group life in the kinds of nurseries that are only parking places for children” (Olsen 707). Emily got nowhere near the amount of attention she needed. Maggie, on the other hand, was always with her mother. Maggie’s mother was also older and better suited to be a mother because she was older and more experienced however, Maggie’s father also left the family.
Antonia is a young girl who deals with family issues and overwhelming responsibility in her one depressed parent family. On the other hand Jazz deals with trying to make her parents accept who she truly is and she also constantly rebels. While Jazz's Gothic look may be deceiving but she is completely different once you get to know her. Someone of her appearance would never be assumed to play the piano and save lives as a lifeguard. While the two girls have their own unique points they also have one thing in common and that is family issues.
Mariam has been lonely her entire life and after her mom committed suicide she couldn’t have been so lonely. “’You can eat downstairs with the rest of us.’ He said, but without much conviction. He understood a little too readily when Mariam said she preferred to eat alone.” (40) Mariam had no family after Nana died, all she had was Jalil, her birthfather who treated her like she was adopted, like a harami.
In chapter 18, she decides to remove the letter and her daughter, Pearl, becomes very upset. She wouldn’t come near her mother until she put it back on. Hester is not ashamed to wear the scarlet letter because she knows that her daughter, Pearl is a blessing, as well as a reminder of her sin. Her past sin is a part of who she is. To pretend it never happened would be denying apart of herself.
I just think she should have at least told her parents to see what they thought and then go from there, and she also wouldn’t have to go through it alone.sue ended up lying to Mr. Griffins pregnant wife about where her husband is. “Sue, do you know what happened to my husband?” “No ma’am, last time I saw him was at school.” When sue told that lie she could barely breath, her heart was racing at one hundred miles per hour. She was very eager to get out of the house so she wouldn’t have to lie
Lucy loved her mom but her mom constantly neglected her when her brother came to their life. Lucy is thought to be a bitter character because she was unable to love anyone, she didn't want to love anyone like she loved her mother which rejected and left
Maggie selflessly insists that her sister can have the quilts (128). Maggie is also not a very strong character; instead she stays in the background most every situation that she can. For example, Dee and her friend rapidly approached the house in their car. “Maggie attempts to make a dash for the house…” but her mother quickly takes hold of her, making sure that she does not escape. Maggie was very uneasy around her sister; her mother tells her anxiousness in regard to Dee’s visitation: “Maggie will be nervous until after her sister goes: she will stand hopelessly in corners, homely and ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs, eyeing her sister with a mixture of envy and awe” (119).