The overall theme of “Abuela Invents the Zero” is treat your family with respect. In Abuela Invents the Zero is a girl doesn't respect her grandmother. In paragraph 14 it says “ I Realized to my horror that my grandmother is lost…. I am so embarrassed that even the woman sitting next to me is shooting daggers my way… i would rather like her to disappear. I just know on monday that my friends and my enemies will have a lot of senile grandmother jokes to tell in front of me…. The lady sitting next to me makes a big deal about getting up and getting abuela (ortizes , 14). This shows that no matter what people say or think that you shouldn't be embarrassed of your family. And that everyone has their own opinion and it shouldn't affect your relationship
Although this story is told in the third person, the reader’s eyes are strictly controlled by the meddling, ever-involved grandmother. She is never given a name; she is just a generic grandmother; she could belong to anyone. O’Connor portrays her as simply annoying, a thorn in her son’s side. As the little girl June Star rudely puts it, “She has to go everywhere we go. She wouldn’t stay at home to be queen for a day” (117-118). As June Star demonstrates, the family treats the grandmother with great reproach. Even as she is driving them all crazy with her constant comments and old-fashioned attitude, the reader is made to feel sorry for her. It is this constant stream of confliction that keeps the story boiling, and eventually overflows into the shocking conclusion. Of course the grandmother meant no harm, but who can help but to blame her? O’Connor puts her readers into a fit of rage as “the horrible thought” comes to the grandmother, “that the house she had remembered so vividly was not in Georgia but in Tennessee” (125).
In his discussion with a psychiatrist many of Antoine’s mishaps and offences are revealed, including the fact that he stole money from his grandmother and visited a prostitute. Antione’s interest in women is explored in this scene. It is also revealed that Antione had been sent to live with a wet nurse and then his grandmother because his mother did not want him around. Through her actions and words, Antione was able to notice that his mother never really cared for him, leading to a rift to be formed between them. As he explains how he found out his mother wanted to abort him, he looks down, nervously moves his fingers, and speaks in a quieter tone demonstrating that the topic of his mother is one that causes him pain and sadness; this is a contrast to when he speaks indifferently about stealing his grandmother’s money. Antione explains that the reason he stole money from her is because she is “old” and “going to die soon.” Antione’s noticeable indifference towards his grandmother, and his need to steal from her regardless of her kindness demonstrates that for Antione she does not satisfy the role of the maternal figure he desires. For Antione, his grandmother cannot take the role of his mother because she is “old” and “going to die.” His grandmother’s advanced age is a threat because in the event of her death, he will
Though O 'Connor 's use of characterization, she managed to explore the egocentric mind of the Grandmother. She always wanted to be the center of attention, she was prejudice and believed things should stay the same, and she was very selfish. While she thinks she 's above everyone else, she felt that the world revolves around
There are three phases of thought for the Grandmother. During the first phase, which is in the beginning, she is completely focused on herself in relation to how others think of her. The Second Phase occurs when she is speaking to The Misfit. In the story, The Misfit represents a quasi-final judgment. He does this by acting like a mirror. He lets whatever The Grandmother says bounce right off him. He never really agrees with her or disagrees, and in the end he is the one who kills her. His second to last line, "She would of been a good woman," The Misfit said, "if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life," (O'Conner 152). might be the way O'Conner felt about most of us alive, or how she felt that God must feel about us.
With these two divergent personas that define the grandmother, I believe the ultimate success of this story relies greatly upon specific devices that O’Connor incorporates throughout the story; both irony and foreshadowing ultimately lead to a tale that results in an ironic twist of fate and also play heavily on the character development of the grandmother. The first sense of foreshadowing occurs when the grandmother states “[y]es and what would you do if this fellow, The Misfit, Caught you” (1042). A sense of gloom and an unavoidable meeting with the miscreant The Misfit seem all but inevitable. I am certain that O’Connor had true intent behind th...
Unbroken: a World War II story of survival, resilience, and redemption. By Laura Hillenbrand (pp. x, 387)
The overall theme of the text “Abuela Invents the Zero”, is to treat others the way you want to be treated, and to treat your family with respect. Connie, the granddaughter, is very rude to her Abuela and quick to judge her looks and actions. In the text it says, “ It is January, two feet of snow on the ground, and she’s wearing a shawl over a thick black dress. That’s just the start.” This shows how she is unfamiliar with the snow in New Jersey, but Connie is still quick to judge her for what she is wearing and she just got off the plane. Also, this shows us how she is embarrassed to be seen with her Abuela because of what she is wearing. Connie should just be respectful and happy to see her Abuela, since it is her first time in the U.S.
Compromising her individuality, her emotional stability, and her dreams mark Nel's banal and unfulfilling life.Early in Nel's life during a trip to New Orleans, she watches as her mother is humiliated by a train's white, racist conductor; she watches the indignity of her mother's having to squat in an open field to urinate while white train passengers gaze; and she watches her mother's shame at her own Creole mother's libidinous lifestyle. Her mother's submissiveness and humiliation evokes a fear, an anger, and an energy in Nel. Her emotions intensify as she makes a declaration to never be her mother, to never compromise her individuality, "I'm me. I'm not their daughter. I'm not Nel. I'm me.
In the story, the grandmother who does not have an actual name is one of the key characters in this plot. She has almost two different personalities to her character. She can be a good person and a bad person all at the same time. On the good side of the grandmother, she tries to help keep the family together throughout the trip to Florida, and she also seems to look out for the children even though it goes against what the parents like. She gives the children attention and discipline when the children’s parents ignore them. Even though the grandmother has a good side, she has a major evil side to her which is mostly shown in the story. With her evil side showing, the grandmother has a very racist side to her. She could also, in many cases be blamed for the reason why her family was killed. There are many reasons why the grandmother is the cause of the family’s death in the store, for example, the grandmother brought along a cat that caused the family vehicle to crash. Other actions ...
Eva’s lack of value for motherhood shaped the lives of her family as well as her own. Because of her negative feelings toward motherhood, many of the people surrounding her have similar values. Eva reflects her community’s negative perception of motherhood by being straightforward about it and passing it down through her family
Her family life is depicted with contradictions of order and chaos, love and animosity, conventionality and avant-garde. Although the underlying story of her father’s dark secret was troubling, it lends itself to a better understanding of the family dynamics and what was normal for her family. The author doesn’t seem to suggest that her father’s behavior was acceptable or even tolerable. However, the ending of this excerpt leaves the reader with an undeniable sense that the author felt a connection to her father even if it wasn’t one that was desirable. This is best understood with her reaction to his suicide when she states, “But his absence resonated retroactively, echoing back through all the time I knew him. Maybe it was the converse of the way amputees feel pain in a missing limb.” (pg. 399)
Bandy also quoted in the essay, “In our first view of the Grandmother, we witness a chilling demonstration of her selfishness.” It is very obvious the Grandmother is concerned with her gaining and nobody else’s and it appears she finds nothing to wrong with the idea. When the family encounters the Misfit and the Grandmother recognizes him as the Misfit, she quickly asked him, “you wouldn’t shoot a lady, would you?” She shows no concern about the rest of the family and continues to plead with the Misfit for her life only. The Grandmother exaggerated a lot, for example she told the Misfit, “we turned over twice,” when they actually turned over once. Perhaps, this was another way of deception to gain her empathy from anyone she could.
The movie Real Women have Curves gave insight to a first generation Latina girl Ana Garcia who struggles to balance her family's culture and heritage. Ana is expected to work in her sister's dress warehouse, find a husband, and have children while forgetting her dreams of a college education. However, one of her high-school teachers Mr. Guzman tries to convince her parents to give her an opportunity allow her to attend college. Both parents' refuse point blank. Her mother Carmen states that Ana's sister Estela is a spinster and she'll never marry, so it was Ana's duty to give her grandchildren. As this film is evaluated through the lens of human behavior, it is important to define the word family and what this meant to Ana throughout
After reading the novel, Less Than Zero, by Brett Easton Ellis, I now have an idea what three movies I would recommend for the main character(s) to see. I would recommend the movies I will soon name because they relate to the characters’ lives and the overall storyline of the novel. Less Than Zero by Brett Easton Ellis is about a young man, Clay, coming back to visit his family during his winter break of college one year. During his winter break, in California, he reunites with old friends from high school and discovers their lives are drastically different from what they previously were like. During his visit he becomes entrapped by the drug and party scene that endlessly surrounds his old friends like, Trent and Julian. Clay manages to sound quite monotone as he describes the parties and events that take place during the novel. He regularly snorts cocaine during the novel and partakes in other illegal activities but still possesses a moral compass that we see enacted in one of the last scenes of the novel. As Clay is exposed to the more explicit realities of Trent’s, Julian’s, and other old friends lives we see the harsh and cruel reality of the LA party scene and our able to see the multiple depths of a character like Clay.
The Good woman of Setzuan is a play written by Bertolt Brecht which brings in sympathetic feeling to the audience and the readers of play by using low economic warm hearted woman Shan Te, who is treated differently because of her status in the society. In Shen Te’s society, a woman is a considered second class because of her gender and economic status and men are considered best option for her survival. For instance, a policeman admits that the only way Shen Te could get out of poverty is to get man. In a like manner, Shen Te’s boyfriend believes that a woman does everything a man asks because she devoid to common sense. Even though Shen Te is a very good person, when things gets out of hand, she develops bad double self by disguising herself