Sue Monk Kidd’s novel, “Secret Life of Bees,” based in South Carolina in the 1960s, explores a number of confronting and major issues, such as forgiveness and feminine power. It also explores the history of racism in America at this time, and the impacts and implications this had on the way many “coloured” people lived their lives. The story follows the life of Lily, a pre-adolescent girl, who has been through a lot after the death of her mother. This is mostly due to her father, whom she called T.Ray, ‘as daddy’ didn’t suit him. Rosaleen, Lily’s nanny is also a key character in this book, as she too escapes with Lily, as they attempt to escape from the hatred they have experienced.
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.
Marissa Baird ENGWR 101: MW 12-2pm Professor Graham 25 November 2014 Assignment: Compare and Contrast Paper Final Draft Self-Perception is What Counts The everlasting Southern love story of an independent woman is illustrated through the colorful words of Zora Neale Hurston, in her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. Janie, the protagonist, is introduced at the beginning of the novel as a natural and comfortable woman. Janie goes through her life story of growing up with Nanny, who took care of Janie, three marriages, and her journey to find new adventures and love. Janie’s self-perception and visions of her life were conflicting from others around her. Nanny believed that her decision, which was to have Janie marry Logan Killicks, was out of love.
During Lily's journey she finds comfort and support in the women that she meets. Throughout the novel Lily goes through many changes because of the impact of the motherly figures of the Black Mary, Rosaleen, and the Calendar Sisters. Lying on her bed, Lily waits for the return of the bees that have begun to live in the walls of her bedroom. The year is 1964; Lily is about to turn fourteen. She lives alone with her father, Terrance Ray, and their black housekeeper and nanny, Rosaleen.
Margaret Walker’s historical novel entitled Jubilee, brilliantly describes the life story of Vyry who was the daughter of Hetta, a house slave and her master, John. As Walker tells the story of Vyry’s life, she takes the reader through the youthful, jubilant days of Vyry’s childhood, through her deep dark days of slavery, her positive and negative experiences with love, and her experiences with her children. Finally, Walker paints a beautiful picture of freedom for Vyry. After having read and assessed the validity of Jubilee as it deals with slavery, free black people, and the Civil War, and with an understanding that Walker heard the story as a child from her grandmother, then supported by some thirty years of research, it is evident that
In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God describes the life of Janie, a black woman at the turn of a century. Janie is raised by her Grandmother and spends her life traveling with different men until she finally returns home. Their Eyes Were Watching God is a novel of modern literature that displays a woman’s quest in self-discovery and on her journey through life. Through this novel is that the question of femininity and dependency is raised through the quest Janie is put through. The first two people Janie depended on were her Grandmother, whom she called Nanny, and Logan Killicks.
Symbolism in Zora Neal Hurston 's ``Sweat : Zora Neale Hurston 's ``Sweat (1926 ) is based on two primary influences in her life : the town of Eatonville where Hurston grew up and her relationship with her employer , Fannie Hurst . The short story "Sweat " revolves around the life of Delia Jones , a washerwoman from Eatonville , Florida . The story begins with Delia Jones gathering courage to counter her abusive husband and ends with the death of her husband , tracing the transformation that Delia undergoes as a result . Delia Jones is a common black , hardworking Southern woman with deep religious faith . It is through her faith in God that she finds it possible to overcome her domestic problems caused by her abusive husband .
in History, but the passing of one of her biggest inspirations, her grandmother Louvenia Watson, caused her great suffering. This tragedy led to the production of powerful poems and essays, which essentially became her most significant outlet and by 1968, Giovanni published the first volume of her book of poems, Black Feeling Black Talk. This volume includes the poem Nikki-Rosa, one that gives a first hand account of the life of a young African American girl growing up in the heat of racism and violence. Immediately, the title Nikki-Rosa indicates that the poem will discuss Giovanni’s childhood, seeing as how the poem is given the title of the nickname Giovanni was given in the early years of her adolescence. In addition, the first shift directly comments on an area known as “Woodlawn,” (line 3) a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio where Giovanni briefly resided.
She writes in order to redirect the generations of misguided African Americans. Her story preaches to her readers that it is crucial to keep and preserve the culture and history of their ancestors. African American history should be as the quilt in the story; it represents the bond of African Americans, “sewn” together, as patches on a quilt. Each patch represents a different generation bonded through cultural tradition. In the story, the quilt illustrates a tale of the struggle of the family’s ancestors, and just as a piece of stitching comes loose Dee helps her family to learn a lesson that keeps the quilt (a family’s ancestral history) intact by sharing it so that others too may learn to become educated in their history and take pride in it.
Whereas all attention is given to Dee, as she has taken a new road. When Maggie comes back to visit Mama, she arrives with her new boyfriend Hakim-a-barber, which Maggie has been studying with. Dee has also changed her name to an African name: Wangero. Mama was astonished of how her daughter had changed. And as the story is set in the start 70’s where the Afro-Americans is fighting for their rights and identity, Mama is a kind of afraid of “letting Dee go”.