More handpicked essays just for you.
Little women by Louisa may alcott in moral compass
Little women by Louisa may alcott in moral compass
Little women by Louisa may alcott in moral compass
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Little women by Louisa may alcott in moral compass
In Betty Smith’s A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women the reader is privy to the impact motherly nurturing has on a young girl. There is about a four-year age difference between Josephine (Jo) March and Francine (Francie) Nolan. The age difference allows a close comparison of the emotional growth that takes place when a mother is present in the life of her daughter. Yet the emotional ties to the mother for each protagonist fits into a different cultural time. The families are both living in an era of poverty, yet the impact of their destitute world is felt in different manners. The story of the March family begins during the era of the Civil War whereas the Nolan family are poverty stricken second generation Irish immigrants
In the book "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn "by Betty Smith one of the major themes that stood out was education, in the book Francie really wanted to get an education but she struggled because she belonged to an immigrant family and they were not as rich as the other families so her parents were barely putting food on the table to afford school tuition. Francie believed that education was the way out of poverty in the book "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn " by Betty Smith Francie said " Education! That was it !It was education that made the difference ! Education would pull them out of grime and dirt " (207,Smith) . In this quote, it explains the time in where she finally realizes what she had to do to achieve her goal, getting out of poverty.
Flannery O’Connor was a southern gothic writer who liked to create deeper meaning in her stories by using her Roman Catholic religion to focus heavily on morals and ethics. She wrote many short stories during her career and two of O’Connor’s more popular ones were “Everything that Rises Must Converge” and “Greenleaf”. In both stories mother vs. son relationships are tested frequently as the moms are placed into situations out of their times. In “Everything that Rises Must Converge” the mom who is very southern at heart is put into the middle of desegregation and the way she responds to that time period enrages her son. While in “Greenleaf” the mom, Mrs. May feels she is better and superior than everyone else but since her sons are failures
The thought of her brothers still being in her former home environment in Maine hurt her. She tried to think of a way to get at least one of her brothers, the sickly one, to come and be with her. She knew that her extended family was financially able to take in another child, and if she showed responsibility, there would be no problem (Wilson, 40). She found a vacant store, furnished it, and turned it into a school for children (Thinkquest, 5). At the age of seventeen, her grandmother sent her a correspondence, and requested her to come back to Boston with her brother (Thinkquest, 6).
Although the author, Betty Smith, denied ever writing a novel with socially political motives, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn abounds with references to class issues. Nearly every scene, every character illustrates or deals with the problem of poverty in early twentieth-century America. For the Nolan’s, being poor means they must always think about being poor – how they will buy the next load of coal, where their food will come from, their insurance, rent, medicine, all the necessities of raising a family. The novel also shows that poverty is not just the absence of food or comfort, it is the direct cause for Uncle Flittman to leave, Johnny’s utter nothingness and Francie’s inability to go to a high school. Every action in the novel is based around a limited amount of resources, as not only the Nolan’s but also the entire community suffers. Exploitation abounds, whether in the overpriced sale of candy, child labour in metal collection, dishonest grocers and butchers and employers with impunity to set their own rules. Katie does her best with the household money, and we find that for the poor sometimes a luxury isn’t in getting something, but in being able to waste it.
Although their plots are divergent, Julie Dash’s “Daughters of the Dust” and Gloria Naylor’s Mama Day possess strikingly similar elements: their setting in the islands off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia, their cantankerous-but-lovable matriarchs who are both traditional healers, and stories of migration, whether it be to the mainland or back home again. The themes of the film and the book are different but at the same time not dissimilar: Dash’s film emphasizes the importance of retaining connections to the ancestral past, while Naylor’s novel focuses more on love, loss, and reconciliation with the past that is part of the present and will continue into the future.
Born in Germantown, Pennsylvania on November 29, 1832, Louisa was the second daughter of Abby May and Amos Bronson Alcott. Being one of four sisters, who were Anna Bronson, Elizabeth Sewall, and Abba May, the Alcott sisters had a very happy childhood. The Alcotts went through a series of moves, weither they were from one house to another in the same town, while others were from town to town, this was only a beginning of what was to continue throughout Louisa’s life. Her father, Bronson, was a transcendentalist thinker and writer who refused to take work that was not related to education or philosophy, which had the family commuting due to where he would be employed, which he rarely had been. Rather than being a step up for the family, these changes were just a step down, for the family had to depend on the generosity of others. Living in Concord, Massachusetts with friends and neighbors, Louisa’s father committed his time to educating his four daughters being that he was unemployed. Bronson could not be relied upon to support the family, which led her to live a pretty fugal life for his inability to keep a steady job. The plainness of their clothes, food, and home never seemed to bother them, but the issue of money was a constant source of worry for Louisa. She saw it as her mission in life to support her family. In her early teens she began to work with her sister Anna as governesses to increase the small earnings of their father. Then by her early twenties, she was writing and getting paid for it. The death of her younger sister and marriage of her older were very traumatic experiences, and to fill the void left by their absence, and to seek some purpose in life and participate in the Civil War, Alcott became an army nurse in Washington, D.C. After six weeks she got typhoid fever, from which she never fully recovered and left her permanently weakened, a condition that got worse with age. After the war Alcott began Little Women in 1868, along with all the gothic thrillers, which brought in money for the family.
The A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry takes place in the Southern-side of Chicago between the time of World War II and present. The main conflict surrounding the Younger family’s head of the house, Mr. Younger, life insurance and trying to figure out what to do with the money. The family consists of Mama Younger, her son, Walter Younger, her daughter, Beneatha Younger, Walter’s wife, Ruth Younger, and Walter’s and Ruth’s son, Travis Younger. The focus of this essay will be on two of the main characters, Ruth Younger and Beneatha Younger. Ruth Younger and Beneatha Younger are different in several social aspects by means of the patriarchal society that surrounds them as well as the social constructivism and their misogynistic family
The mother-daughter relationship is a common topic throughout many of Jamaica Kincaid's novels. It is particularly prominent in Annie John, Lucy, and Autobiography of my Mother. This essay however will explore the mother-daughter relationship in Lucy. Lucy tells the story of a young woman who escapes a West Indian island to North America to work as an au pair for Mariah and Lewis, a young couple, and their four girls. As in her other books—especially Annie John—Kincaid uses the mother-daughter relationship as a means to expose some of her underlying themes.
The narrator, Twyla, begins by recalling the time she spent with her friend, Roberta, at the St. Bonaventure orphanage. From the beginning of the story, the only fact that is confirmed by the author is that Twyla and Roberta are of a different race, saying, “they looked like salt and pepper” (Morrison, 2254). They were eight-years old. In the beginning of the story, Twyla says, “My mother danced all night and Roberta’s was sick.” This line sets the tone of the story from the start. This quote begins to separate the two girls i...
In Anne Bradstreet’s colonial poem, “The Author to Her Child,” Bradstreet compares the idea of raising a child to be perfect to the writing and revising process of a book. Bradstreet uses a metaphysical conceit to compare the complexity of her role as a mother to the love of her book. This conflict is developed through series of events throughout the poem when Bradstreet conveys the tone through the complex metaphor of raising a child to perfecting a book.
The novel, ‘A Tree Grows in the Brooklyn’ by Betty Smith explores the story of Francie’s fall from innocence and her coming of age. Francie eventually learns to value life more as she grew up. She experiences an assertion of life when the Americans initially enter the war that she must live each day the best she can. Francie aptly realizes that the minor issues in life that most people overlook constitute the much-needed happiness. The author underscores that Francie espouses desirable qualities from both her father and mother. Mary Frances Nolan is the daughter of second-generation Americans staying in Brooklyn and is the protagonist of the novel. Katie Nolan is Francie’s mom and hails from a family of strong women. Katie’s oldest sister, Aunty Sissy, is the only daughter of Mary Romney 's who has not learned to read and write. Aunty Sissy has the reputation of being perceived as an easy woman. Aunty Evy is Katie’s older sister and is portrayed as hard working and practical. Mary Rommely is Francie’s maternal grandmother who immigrated to America from Poland. Mary is a devout Catholic and believes in the supernatural. The paper lays a discussion about a heavenly tree, a tree of familial love that grows in Brooklyn, and that survives in any condition no matter how favorable or harsh it may be.
Louisa May Alcott’s concern for women extends beyond her stories of family and relationships to an interest in philanthropy, abolitionism, and other aspects of the reform movements that flourished during her era. As she grew in her concern for social issues she became more active in her support of political rights for women. Later in life, Alcott became an advocate of women's suffrage and was part of a group of female authors during the U. S. Gilded Age to address women's issues in a modern and candid manner. She used her literary works to instruct readers on the nature of democracy, simplicity, and affection. Alcott also created stories that convey a strong and picturesque image of life in the United States during the late nineteenth century.
For a young women, the idea of motherhood means taking on the ultimate responsibility of caring for a defenseless child in spite of the youth and inexperience. To complicate matters, include the social norms of the 19th century that young women should not have children out of wedlock and a lack of personal independence since most young women do not have livable income and a space to call her own. These norms are enforced upon young women so much that typically their only hope of survival is with the help of a patriarchal figure. Thus, we are introduced into the struggle of Charity, the young female orphaned protagonist of Edith Wharton’s Summer, who is faced with how to make the best “decision” on how her child should come into her world. The
Elbert, Sarah. A Hunger for Home: Louisa May Alcott and Little Women. Philadelphia: Temple Press, 1984.
Motherhood is a traditional role for women. From the time they are young, girls are taught to grow up, marry and become mothers. Of course they can do other things with their lives like play sports, have careers, and travel, but an overwhelming amount of women want to be mothers no matter what else they accomplish with their lives. It is common knowledge that being a good mother is one of the hardest jobs in the world. It is to forever have a special link with another person or people and have a tremendous influence, maybe the most tremendous influence over their lives. Motherhood is a roller coaster ride for women, full of ups and downs, fears and accomplishments. But what happens when motherhood defines who a woman is? All children grow up, and while a woman is always a mother, children need their mothers less and less until eventually their dependence is very minimal. What happens to the woman whose singular role and purpose is no longer needed? In The Summer Before The Dark, and The Fifth Child, the maternal roles of Kate Brown, and Harriet Lovatt are analyzed and traditional motherhood behavior is deconstructed due to these characters’ experiences and relationships with their children.