In Moore’s “Which is More That I Can Say”, the role-reversal of the search of identity reinforces the image of the dynamic of fear that both mother and daughter have. Mrs. Mallon’s presence in the short story is described as something repelling and invasive towards her daughter’s decisions in life. Abby, having shaped her identity privately tries to alienate herself from her mother’s stronger character in order to have proper control of her life. Mrs. Mallon showing a risk taking behavior, sees her daughter as “a women who expects too much” due to her performance of actions in life. 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.
Character Analysis In Joyce Carol Oates “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Connie is simply a young girl who is lost in a state of insecurity, rebellion, and narcissism. These were caused by a disapproving mother, an emotionally distant father and the burden of living in a sibling shadow. The only result is a young girl who leads a second life of promiscuity and Shallow attention seeking. The time she finally learns of consequences of going to strange places and not being aware of her surrounding’s, utterly sealed her fate . 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.
Lennie loves anything soft, so Curley’s wife lets him touch her hair. Curley’s wife starts to get angry, and when Lennie does not let go she starts to yell at him. Lennie becomes scared and tells her to be quiet. In desperation, Lennie accidentally shakes Curley’s wife a little too hard and breaks her neck. Curley’s wife loses her American dream because she is desperate to leave her mother and past behind, her marriage isolates her, and is she helpless when trying to make her own decisions in her new home.
What follows is a complex story of human emotions, relations, freedom and frustrations. The family bonding and the love between the siblings is brutally tested when Anna decides to go to the court in order to get ‘right to her own body’. Her decision comes as a shock to the family especially her mother, and is threatening to tear the family apart. Should the family respect her right to decide for herself and let Kate die or force her to donate and curb her basic rights? This is a question to which there is no simple answer.
The daughters in the stories thought their mothers were very pushy about some things and they did not like it. However, what they did not realize is the intention their mother had for them to be in a better, more independent situation then they were. Jing-Mei Woo was one of the daughters in chapter eight titled Two Kinds and it stated, “I hated the tests, something inside of me began to die”. (Page 141) When Jing-Mei’s mother saw other people excelling, she thought it was necessary for her daughter to do the same thing. She had been put on a pedestal in her mind as a type of prodigy.
Asha symbolizes her mother’s struggle and power. A symbol that I found in the first chapter of the book is drowned which describes water, and means emotions and birth of an identity. It is during Kavita's pregnancy which means that she is going to give birth to her child soon, and her emotions are that she is worried if it is a girl what she will do? What will happen to her child? Is her husband going to accept her or no?
Like Water for Chocolate Like Water for Chocolate written by Laura Esquivel is about a hopeless girl named Tita that has fallen in deep love with a guy named Pedro, but it is a tradition for the youngest daughter to have to care for their mother until she dies. Mama Elena, mother of Tita forbid her of marring but Tita thinks that it is wrong, and she plans on breaking that tradition. When Rosaura, sister of Tita decides to marry Pedro because her sister can’t and it breaks Titas heart and she is forced to move on. When Rosaura is pregnant she gets sick and Mama Elena calls in Doctor John Brown which then plays a huge roll in Titas life. Doctor John Brown would definitely make a better husband for Tita for the following reasons he is not attached as Pedro, he is understanding and companionate about Tita feels and most importantly he gives her space.
“The Space Between Us” shows a good example of this, Bhima a grandmother who is very poor, exhausted and emotionally unstable finds out that her only grand daughter is pregnant, this sets Bhima in a rage, she feels that she is the only one going through the terrors and nightmares if somebody finds out. Any decision that Bhima makes depends on her future, she becomes sleep deprived and will do anything to get rid of the baby growing in her grand daughter’s womb. Bhima is also physically hurt because she has a bad hip in her old age, and she has arthritis in her hands. However Bhima has no choice she is a slave to the upper class, She works for the rich high class family and if she stops working she will not be able to support herself. “Family Matters”, Nariman is also a suitable character that is physically and emotionally trapped and cannot do anything about it.
With her entire family in crisis, Sheila takes reckless measures to heal the wounds of the past. Then events take an unexpected turn, offering Sheila hope for the future, but she faces one final, life-changing choice… When Sheila gave birth to Claire she was just sixteen years of age. Persuaded by her family to give the baby up for adoption, this choice would affect her life - and the lives of those she loved - forever. Two decades later, Sheila and her older sister Eileen face heartache. Eileen’s cancer has returned and Sheila can no longer live with the decision she made all those years ago.
To complicate things even more no one knew that she had already lost her virginity to an unknown perpetrator. Angela was still unsure about marrying Bayardo since she didn't love him but was set strait by her mother very quickly, in the novel it says: “Angela Vicario only dared hint at the inconvenience of a lack of love, but her mother demolished it with a single phrase: 'love can be learned too. '” (35) After her mother put her back on the right path, she accepted the fact that she was to be married to someone she didn't love and moved on with the plan of matrimony. But before the wedding night Angela confides in her friends that she had the absence of virginity and they directed her how she could fake the consummation of the marriage. On the night of the wedding Angela could not go through with the deed so Bayardo discovered that she was not a