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In the novel Purple Hibiscus, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a character named Beatrice also known as Mama, has many dynamic traits. Mama is a religious woman who respects and highly prioritizes her family. Mama’s husband Eugene becomes more abusive toward her children and herself which causes her to lose her unborn baby. In Mama’s mind and heart, she knows she has to protect her children so she makes the decision to poison Eugene. Mama’s character changes throughout the book, as she first starts as a very quiet and caring character but as Eugene’s abusiveness increases, it develops her into becoming a perpetrator that caused her to be very depressed. Mama is a very quiet character in the beginning of the story. The book starts off when papa throws a missal at Jaja for not attending the Communion. The missal papa throws causes Mama’s favorite figurines to fall and break. Mama quietly observes the scene and she cleans it up. Out of respect for Eugene, she has nothing to say even though the figurines were something she favors and cares about. Adichie writes, “She stared at the figurin...
Values are one of the most important traits handed down from parent to child. Parents often pass lessons on regardless of whether they intend to do so, subconsciously acting as the conductor of a current that flows through their children and into generations beyond. This is the case with Ruth, James McBride’s mother and the subject of his memoir The Color of Water: Despite her disgust with Tateh’s treatment of his children, Ruth carries his values into parenthood, whether or not she aims to do so.
The short story “Momma’s Encounter” by Maya Angelou has a substantial purpose. This story was all about morals. Growing up in the 1930’s was not easy because of the great depression, families were fighting to put food on the table and provide for their young. Also in the late 1930’s we were getting ready for World War II. However we as a country are still fighting the longest war that still goes on today and that is racism. Racism is another key role in this short story and has a very powerful meaning.
Mama Day performs magical pregnancies with ease. The occurrence of the supernatural is mainly concentrated in ‘the Other Place’, the Days’ old house where Miranda and Abigail used to live as children. The ‘Other Place’ serves as a meeting point between the real and unreal world where the unexpected events take place. For the pregnancy of Bernice, a local woman, Mama Day uses her supernatural power and natural medicine. She nurtures Bernice so much to prepare her for the final healing element in ‘the Other Place’. With the help of indefinable ancient spiritual hands, Mama Day performs a ritual. She seems to be holding a chicken on her lap. Hens and eggs stand as the symbol of fertility. The ritual that takes place is quite otherworldly. Bernice strips down naked and rests her head on the embroidered pillow. She feels someone’s hand in her body. The exceptional power of the Other Place and the presence of an unnatural spirit serve as mediators between Mama Day and Bernice. She uses the Other Place to enhance the power of her healing and to call for the ancestral spirit to help in the pregnancy of Bernice who desperately longs for a baby. The Other Place is connected to ancestral spirits that is an inseparable part of the island’s history and of Mama Day’s heritage. In Bernice’s case, the Other Place proves to assist in creating a new life but in George’s case, it proves to be the cause of George’s
Despite her physical absence, however, Lucy's mother continually occupies Lucy's thoughts, inspiring feelings of anger, contempt, longing, and regret.
The conflict between Waverly and her mother was very realistic due to the nature that many mothers and daughters have different views which causes disagreements. The people of Chinese descent have their Chinese heritage, but struggled to keep true to their traditions while living around American culture. The major conflict in the story, the clash of different cultures, led to the weakening of the relationship between the two characters. For example, when Waverly reentered the apartment after running away, she saw the "remains of a large fish, its fleshy head still connected to bones swimming upstream in vain escape" (Tan 508). Waverly saw herself as the fish, stripped clean by her mother 's power, unable to break free. Through the major conflict,
One conflict that divides the family from seeing the dream is the clash between mama her other family members. Walter feels that mama is blocking his dream of owning a liquor store because of her religious background. Her value system is so strong and the fact that it is her apartment, amplifies this conflict. Due to her domineering personality, Walter is not able to partake in the liquor store business. Mama also shows conflict with Beneatha when their view on religion differs. As a result, mama uses her domineering ways to keep Beneatha down by telling her that she can't speak against God as long as she lives in her house. Lastly, mama finds out from Ruth that she might get an abortion. This is unacceptable and is also against her religious beliefs. Since mama is the matriarch of the family, she is very much in control of her children's lives. She is driven by a strong sense of pride and a strong faith in God.
Meursault’s Maman, when introduced to the reader, has already passed away; however, her past relationships that disclose themselves when Meursault attends the funeral directly contrast her son’s emotional receptivity, or lack thereof. During Maman’s funeral, a woman “in the second row...emitted a little choking sob” (8). The keeper subsequently relieves Meursault of his frustration by explaining to him that “she was devoted to [his] mother” and that they were close friends (8). Along with friendship, Maman also embraces romance during her last few days with her relationship with Thomas Perez at the home, where “[he] and [maman] [are] almost inseparable” and “people [would] tease Perez about having a fiance” (10). Maman’s attempt to form de...
Marie, who is a product of an abusive family, is influenced by her past, as she perceives the relationship between Callie and her son, Bo. Saunders writes, describing Marie’s childhood experiences, “At least she’d [Marie] never locked on of them [her children] in a closet while entertaining a literal gravedigger in the parlor” (174). Marie’s mother did not embody the traditional traits of a maternal fig...
Motherhood in The Bean Trees & nbsp; In the novel, The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver, we watch Taylor grow a great deal. This young woman takes on a huge commitment to caring for a child that doesn't even belong to her. The friends that she acquired along the way help teach her about love and responsibility, and those friends become family to her and Turtle. Having no experience in motherhood, she muddles through the best she can, as all mothers do. & nbsp; Marietta was raised in a small town in Kentucky. When she became an adult, she decided she needed a change.
In the play Ruined, Mama Nadi symbolizes tough love, as seen through her encounters with the characters Christian, Sophie, and Salima. Mama Nadi puts up a tough persona, but she also has a soft spot for several characters. A playful love-hate relationship is introduced in the opening scenes between Mama Nadi and Christian. Furthermore, Christian introduces Mama Nadi to Samlia and Sophie and there is an automatic sense of bitterness from Mama Nadi towards the two girls. This bitterness later evolves into compassion and tough love, because Mama Nadi feels a connection and a sense of responsibility towards the girls after finding out that they are no different from her. Although it may seem like at times Mama Nadi is only acting for her own selfish reasons, it is later revealed in the play that she does these things to protect others. There are several instances in the play that may indicate that Mama Nadi is a selfish woman,
Mama, as a member of an older generation, represents the suffering that has always been a part of this world. She spent her life coexisting with the struggle in some approximation to harmony. Mama knew the futility of trying to escape the pain inherent in living, she knew about "the darkness outside," but she challenged herself to survive proudly despite it all (419). Mama took on the pain in her family in order to strengthen herself as a support for those who could not cope with their own grief. Allowing her husband to cry for his dead brother gave her a strength and purpose that would have been hard to attain outside her family sphere. She was a poor black woman in Harlem, yet she was able to give her husband permission for weakness, a gift that he feared to ask for in others. She gave him the right to a secret, personal bitterness toward the white man that he could not show to anyone else. She allowed him to survive. She marveled at his strength, and acknowledged her part in it, "But if he hadn't had...
Mother is introduced to us from “The Rescue” and we continue to learn of her tortures throughout the book. Mother is a woman who is angry, specially towards Dave, specially when he is in need of punishment. Mother does not take care of her appearance anymore, she walks around in robes all day, watches tv, never bothers to put on make up, and often smells of alcohol. She is vindictive, cruel and abusive, always barking orders, assigning impossible chores and coming up with more sickening ways to break Dave. Mother attacks Dave’s self esteem by making him repeat and believe that he is a bad boy. Dave’s self esteem deteriorates even more as she treats him worse than one would a dog, yet acts towards his brothers with care and affection and even goes on to teach them to look down on Dave.
The way a child is raised serves as a precedent in determining who the child will become once he or she is an adult. There are many children who have overcome unfortunate situations in their childhood and have become successful individuals despite the negative factors they have faced. Then again, there have also been many situations where a child is raised in an upscale community surrounded by successful people and have grown to make negative decisions leading to ineffectiveness in life.
Mama is a powerful, strong witted person. She has a lot of control in this play and dominates as a woman character. This is unusual because this is usually a male’s position in life. She is a woman, “who has adjusted to many things in life and overcome many more, her face is full of strength”. In this play she is illustrated as taking over for the head of the family and controls the lives of everyone in her house. Rules are followed to Mama’s extent. She controls what is said and done in her house. After Walter yells, “WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE LISTEN TO ME TODAY!” (70). Mama responds in a strong tone of voice saying, “I don’t ‘low no yellin’ in this house, Walter Lee, a...
Alice Walker was born in Eatonton on February 9, 1944. She is an African American novelist, short story writer, poet, essayist, and activist. Walker has taught African American women's studies to college students at wellesley, the university of Massachusetts at Boston". She writes through various personal experiences, she described herself as "womanist" which means a woman who loves other woman and appreciate them. Walker writes through her feelings and the morals she has grown with. She writes about the black woman's struggle for spiritual wholeness and sexual, and political issues especially with black women's struggle for survival.