Edie was a fifteen year old girl who grew up on a farm in the country. She was hired as a nanny to take care of the Peebles’s (The family that hired Edie) kids. Edie to begin might be seen as someone who was obedient and tried her best to do the right thing. As the story progresses the reader finds that Edie’s emotions begin to overpower her own judgement. Analyzing Edie’s actions and traits will the readers find that Edie is indeed to blame for her own mistakes.
Edie was raised in a very sheltered pious household. The reader may deduce from this that her thoughts and actions were probably ones that were careful, cautious, and inexperienced. Mr. Peebles one day inquires if Edie would be able to work as their nanny. Edie knows how to bake,
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After promising not to tell anyone she was wearing the dress a romance between the two begins to blossom. Edie frequently visits Chris at his pilot business engaging him in conversation. At a later point in the story Christ puts a sign up that says “NO RIDES THIS P.M. APOLOGIES.” Edie reacts and is worried if he wasn’t feeling well. Edie has clearly become emotionally involved in Chris Waters even though she doesn’t know him very well. The story continues with Chris Waters’s fiancee Alice Kelling entering the scene. Even when Edie realizes Chris is engaged she continues to visit him. One occasion, which especially stands out, is when Chris engages Edie by kissing her repeatedly on his bed. Towards the end (of this encounter) Chris rolls on top of Edie, then realizing what he is doing he jumps away splashing water on his face. Later, at the dinner table the event comes forth and Edie must answer if she was “intimate” with Chris. Her youthfulness and inexperience comes forth, because she doesn’t know what intimate means. She responds that she was (intimate) because she thinks that this is merely kissing. This particular event creates within the reader a sense of outrage towards Chris Waters for taking advantage of a little girl. However, does Edie hold any responsibility in a situation such as this? Does the very fact that Edie is young and doesn’t understand certain aspects of life yet free her from
In the young life of Essie Mae, she had a rough childhood. She went through beatings from her cousin, George Lee, and was blamed for burning down her house. Finally Essie Mae got the nerve to stand up for herself and her baby sister, Adline as her parents were coming in from their work. Her dad put a stop to the mistreatment by having her and her sister watched by their Uncle Ed. One day while Essie Mae's parents were having an argument, she noticed that her mothers belly was getting bigger and bigger and her mom kept crying more and more. Then her mother had a baby, Junior, while the kids were out with their Uncle Ed. Her uncle took her to meet her other two uncles and she was stunned to learn that they were white. She was confused by this but when she asked her mom, Toosweet, about it her mom would not give her an answer one way or the other. Once her mom had the baby, her father started staying out late more often. Toosweet found out that her dad was seeing a woman named Florence. Not long after this, her mother was left to support her and her siblings when her father left. Her mother ended up having to move in with family until she could obtain a better paying job in the city. As her childhood went on she started school and was very good at her studies. When she was in the fourth grade, her mom started seeing a soldier named Raymond. Not too long after this, her mother got pregnant and had James. Her mother and Raymond had a rocky relationship. When James was born, Raymond's mother came and took the baby to raise because she said that raising four children was too much of a burden for a single parent to handle. Raymond went back to the service for a while but then when he came back he and Toosweet had another baby. Raymond's brothers helped him build a new house for them to live in and they brought James back to live with them. During this time Essie Mae was working for the Claiborne family and she was starting to see a different point of view on a lot of things in life. The Claiborne's treated her almost as an equal and encouraged her to better herself.
Alice is introduced as an observer of literature, the audience. She comments that she, “…hate[s] love stories that don’t end in marriage.” (170) Her passive role as an audience member allows her to remark on what she does and does not find favorable in a particular piece of writing, as she has no stake in it. However, this soon evolves as she is thrust into the spotlight when her mother, Mrs. Courland, begins to write. Her mother pens an article that, “consist[s] of her own
mother and her husband after her mother’s death. But Eudora Welty deliberately includes a selfish character of Fay in the family to shows the important of the memories they have. Laurel discovers the significant meaning of the memories and past to her, yet she could not survive in staying fully attached to it.
...e on her part. Throughout the story, the Mother is portrayed as the dominant figure, which resembled the amount of say that the father and children had on matters. Together, the Father, James, and David strived to maintain equality by helping with the chickens and taking care of Scott; however, despite the effort that they had put in, the Mother refused to be persuaded that Scott was of any value and therefore she felt that selling him would be most beneficial. The Mother’s persona is unsympathetic as she lacks respect and a heart towards her family members. Since the Mother never showed equality, her character had unraveled into the creation of a negative atmosphere in which her family is now cemented in. For the Father, David and James, it is only now the memories of Scott that will hold their bond together.
Hally’s mother is the bread winner. We know this as she is the owner of the tea shop. She acts as the peacekeeper at home. This becomes evident through her conversation with Hally over the telephone. She has to juggle between two domineering characters that have equally strong personalities. She is reliant on Hally for help with his father. For example, Hally has to fetch his drunken father from a bar, despite the humiliation which he faces. Hally’s mother is presented as a weak ...
Evelyn is fascinated with the many stories Ninny has to tell about the people she used to know. She quickly learns the power of friendship as she hears the story of Idgie and Ruth and how their friendship shaped the rest of their lives. Evelyn also learns about courage and independence through these stories. She soon realizes she can feel good about herself and not rely on her husband for everything. Evelyn still takes care of her husband and wants to be his wife, but she realizes that her needs as an individual are just as
Also the narrator is not the only one coming to terms with their identity. Her little brother Laird is developing a desire to do the masculine things around the house. The narrator overhears her mother talking to her father, saying, “Wait till Laird gets bigger you will have some real help.” This represents the family’s characteristic expectations of Laird to follow in his father’s footsteps. “The girl” obviously sensed their higher expectations for Laird and her jealousy began to show. She once made Laird climb the ladder to the top beam, believing that he would get in trouble. But, when her parents arrived it was the narrator that was in trouble, her parents yelling, “Why weren’t you watching him.” This shows the double standard between genders in their family and in the general public. She shared a room with her brother, and at night after he fell asleep, she would stay up and tell her stories. In these stories she would imagine herself as a hero, she was brave and spirited and everyone admired her. These stories represented the woman that she wanted to become; powerful and independent, which was the complete opposite of the stereotypical “girl”, which her family wanted her to become. Another example of the protagonist’s struggle for her identity is her identification with one of the family’s horses, Flora. The father fed his foxes with horse-meat. Therefore, the family would sometimes get healthy
Through her three marriages, the death of her one true love, and proving her innocence in Tea Cake’s death, Janie learns to look within herself to find her hidden voice. Growing as a person from the many obstacles she has overcome during her forty years of life, Janie finally speaks her thoughts, feelings and opinions. From this, she finds what she has been searching for her whole life, happiness.
Daisy lacks self confidence which made it harder to raise her fifteen year-old son Donny. There were many instances where Daisy pondered on what she can do better to help Donny in school, but as she put forth an effort, she always resisted. “She remembered when Amanda was born. Donny had acted lost and bewildered. Daisy had been alert to that of course, but still, a new baby keeps you busy of course….”(570) When Daisy saw this happening, she never stopped to reassure Donny that even though he had a sister, it was not going to change their relationship. Daisy should have reassured her son by correcting the problem as soon as it surfaced, then Donny should have understood. When Donny started to have problems in school, Daisy gave up without trying, and let a tutor dictate her son’s activities especially when the teacher questions Daisy about Donny’s actions, Daisy replied, “Oh I’m sorry, Miss Evans, but Donny’s tutor handles these things now…” (572) In school Donny’s behavior changed soo drastically that he started to stay out late and Daisy just sat back and let this happen. “The tutor had sat down so many rules![She] were not allowed any questions at all about school, nor were to speak with his teachers…,Only one teacher disobeyed…”(572) Because Daisy didn’t believe in herself or her word, she let others control and therefore his behavior worsened.
She was born in prison and wasn’t fortunate to have what others had in a plain England life in the 1800s. She was ripped from her mother’s hand once she was born and after that gypsies stole her. As a young girl she always realized she wasn’t meant for the life she was living. At eight years old, she said, “she was able to do anything to earn money as a servant.” She went to one of the wealthiest families to beg them to take her in. After a few years later, she finally felt like she belonged there, even though the family saw her as a daughter and also as a servant. She continues her education with their daughters learning to sing, dance, and speak French. As she matures to be a beautiful young she falls in love with the oldest brother from her adopted family, Ronald who flirts and seduces her. It wasn’t a challenge for Ronald to concur all of this. They become lovers and he gives her money when they get together because she believes that they are going to get married and live a wea...
When Celie’s mother left, she played the role of a mother to care and protect her sister, but she started to notice that Mr.__ was looking at her sister in a way that she knew was not okay. Nettie was afraid but Celie knew that God had everything in control (Williams). According to Tate, “The novel evolves as Celie, a fourteen-year-old black girl, confides in God through letters about what has happened to her. She has been raped by a man whom she assu...
...a was raised, she was learning life lessons. She learned of violence from inside The Little Store. She never considered Mr. Sessions and the woman in the store to have any kind of relationship because Eudora never saw them sit down together at the table. Then tragedy struck, and this was how she learned of violence. She never knew exactly what had happened, but knew it was not good. The family just disappeared. Every time she came home from the store, she was carrying with her a little of what she had learned along the way. She learned a lot about, ?pride and disgrace, and rumors and early news of people coming to hurt one another, while others practiced for joy?storing up a portion for [her]self of the human mystery? (82).
The fact that she has other things to do outside the house, it would be difficult for her to manage the responsibilities. In addition, she has additional siblings to take care of apart from the family, which is not easy for her. The promise she made to her mother forces her to give to the father all what she earns to take care of the family. The responsibility was big to her because at the age of 19, she was serving the responsibility of a mother. She had to work extra hard to ensure the family was in order and that the two young ones went to school in time and got their food in time. The choice proves to be wrong because as much as she wants to be good and denies her opportunities of good life; the world outside her family is not being nice to her. A good example is Miss Gavan, who is not friendly at all in the workplace. As she gives orders, they always sound hard on Eveline. As seen in the text, every time she leaves the office, tears are on her face, clearly indicating that she is never happy in her work. After making a bad decision in her life, Eveline is working under tough conditions in order to feed her family and ensure that it is well taken care of. Actually, all what she is doing cannot be done by many people of her age, not only women, but also men (O 'Halloran,
Since the beginning of her life, Louisa isn't allowed to express herself because her father continually stresses the facts. Mr. Gradgrind suppresses Louisa's imagination and all she can do is wonder. One example of Louisa attempting to view the unknown occurs when she and Tom peep through a loophole in order to see a circus (8). This is the first time both Louisa and Tom have seen such a sight. When asked why they were there, Louisa curiously answers, "Wanted to see what it was like" (8), a response any normal child would have. Her "starved imagination" (8) is curious and needs some sort of avenue for release. As Louisa blossoms into a young lady, the young Miss Gradgrind enchants one particular suitor. Her father thought that it was time for Louisa to marry and had a suitable companion in mind. When Mr. Gradgrind asks Louisa if she would like to be Mrs. Bounderby, all Louisa can utter is, "You have been so careful of me, that I never had a child's dream. You have dealt so wisely with me, father, from my cradle to this hour, that I never had a child's belief or a child's fear" (63). Mr. Gradgrind interprets his daughter's words as a compliment to him and his strict belief in teaching only the facts. But Louisa means she has not experienced life and has never been given the chance. Her childhood has been murdered by her father's strict insistence on the perpetuation of facts only. Although Louisa realizes she has been enslaved by the theories of fact, she willingly enters yet another bondage to Mr. Bounderby allowing the process of her suppression to continue.
We are introduced to the protagonist, Chelsie, who is a 16-year-old girl. She takes care of her two siblings, as her mother is out of control and not willing to take responsibility for her children. For that reason, Chelsie has to become the mother of the house