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.
It’s not easy for Connie to live with her mother, who constantly harps on the way Connie looks and how she doesn’t live up to her sister reputation. “If Connie’s name was mentioned it was in a disapproving tone.”[453]. Every time Connie’s mother comments anything about June’s profile, it pushed Connie unconsciously to be nothing like her sister. Mother usually complained about her about habit of looking into a mirror. 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].
Here, Nea acts without thinking and makes it sound like Sourdi will die if they don’t go to Des Moines. Nea’s decision to call Duke for help leads to Sourdi’s husband getting punched in the face. Also, this episode results in the two sisters growing further apart, which is not Nea’s intention. The mother brings some light onto Nea as a character. She tells Nea: “You not like your sister.
The conflict in the story is created by the racism and strong dislike of one another. The French are referred to as “frogs” while the English are called “cabbages”, at least that’s what the French maid of the painter calls them. Conflict between the father and daughter also adds to the story. They seem to have different ideas about how she should be brought up. When they come over to play, it is evident that the daughter wishes she had a stricter upbringing like her English friends.
It’s the “angry woman”. The woman is punishing her daughter, which Sheena can’t put an age on: “Hard to tell how old the little girl was”. “How old was this kid – six, seven?”. Even though the woman doesn’t hit her child, Sheena does not like her way of punishing the child. And that is understandable, who would like a pair of underwear full of urine in their face.
In this story Lizabeth is very rude, for example when her and her friends pick on Miss Lottie, Lizabeth doesn’t care how it makes Miss Lottie feel. When they are hiding behind the bushes throwing stones at the Marigold’s, they think it’s funny, and something “cool” to do. Quote, “we had to annoy her by whizzing a pebble into her flowers, or by yelling a dirty word, then dancing away from her rage.” (79) Next, Lizabeth is very immature in this story, for example, when Lizabeth’s parents are arguing. Lizaebeth get’s tired of hearing it. She get’s out of bed, wakes up her brother, goes over to Miss Lottie’s, and destroys all of her marigold’s, but during this she gets caught, and when Miss Lottie caught her she acted like nothing had happened, and she’d done nothing wrong.
Waverly’s restrained childhood years shaped her into the assertive person she later transformed into as an adult. These characteristics came from major points described in The Joy Luck Club written by Amy Tan. Waverly’s experiences in the limelight as a child chess prodigy; an insufficient relationship with her mother; and her developing rivalry with Jing-Mei all lead to her independent, competitive, stubborn, snobby, and forceful personality. Waverly isn’t entirely self-centered, however, as she proves to love her daughter, Shoshana, unconditionally. Winning chess tournaments as a child and eventually building a profitable career as a tax attorney, Waverly has always been a model of success.
Prior to Dee’s arrival home, Mama is recalling her recurring dream of how she thinks Dee would prefer Mama to look and act. It is unfair of Mama to assume that Dee would prefer her “a hundred pounds lighter, my skin like uncooked barley pancake” (456). Mama is putting words in Dee’s mouth and intimating that Dee is shallow and critical of her Mama’s appearance. Susan Farrell writes that it is Mama who is “ashamed of her own appearance and very much seeks her daughter’s approval” (1).
“The mother – daughter relationship from my stories in the “Joy Luck Club” could be described as a cultural difference between the two. Throughout story there are many times when Waverly Jong’s mother, Lindo, beliefs and intentions were not taken as she wanted by Waverly Jong. For example Waverly’s mother brags about how good her daughter is at chess and even carries a magazine around of Waverly with her. To Lindo, this is showing Waverly that she is proud of her and loves her very much, however this bothers Waverly and she is embarrassed. "It’s just so embarrassing...Why do you have to use me to show off?
During adolescence, however, girls often take their anger out on their mothers. And in turn, the mothers feel ill-equiped to manage their daughters’ anger. The movie Mothers and Daughters (Bessai 2008) reflects these themes. This story outlines the lives of three Mother-Daughter pairs. Brenda is the typical “invisible woman” who is unexpectedly discarded by her husband following a life of sacrifice.