In Debra Granik’s 2010 film Winter’s Bone, Ree Dolly is the main character who lives in a terribly impoverished town in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri. She lives with her two younger siblings, Ashlee and Sonny, a mother who is unresponsive due to a mental illness, and her father, who has disappeared right as his court date approaches. With her father missing, Ree has to take on the role of a mother and a father for her brother and sister, sacrificing her own childhood by doing so. Throughout the film, Ree is shown performing acts of parenthood for Ashlee and Sonny, showing that she is the only parental figure that they have. Not only does she have to assume the role of a mother, now that her father is gone she must step up and even teach …show more content…
By doing this, Granik is trying to illustrate how families living in poverty stricken areas aren't always guaranteed the best parental figures, requiring the older sibling to sacrifice their own childhood in order to take on a parental role. Not only does Ree have to step up in replacement of one parent, but two. Since both of her parents aren’t involved with raising Sonny and Ashlee, she must take on the tasks meant for a mother and a father. For example, she has to worry about doing the dishes and taking them to school while also teaching them how to shoot a gun and hunt. Granik does this to shed light on the fact that in impoverished areas, some families aren’t fortunate enough to have both parents involved, requiring others in the family to sacrifice their own childhood in order to try their best to take on the roles of both
It was times throughout the book the reader would be unsure if the children would even make it. For example, “Lori was lurching around the living room, her eyebrows and bangs all singed off…she had blisters the length of her thighs”(178).Both Lori and Jeannette caught fire trying to do what a parent is supposed to do for their child. Jeannette caught fire at the age of three trying to make hotdogs because her mother did not cook for her leaving Jeannette to spend weeks hospitalized. She was burnt so bad she had to get a skin graft, the doctors even said she was lucky to be alive. The children never had a stable home. They were very nomadic and a child should be brought up to have one stable home. No child should remember their childhood constantly moving. This even led to Maureen not knowing where she come from because all she can remember is her moving. The children had to explain to her why she looked so different is because where she was born. They told Maureen “she was blond because she’d been born in a state where so much gold have been mined, and she had blue eyes the color of the
that Mr White is not as connected to the family as the mother and son.
Gillespie describes the story in her more dramatic moments, the comparison of the two sisters, the arrival of Dee to the house, the values of Maggie and Dee where one is more materialistic than the other. Maggie explainsthe culture of the story through the two sisters “Maggie is interpreted as the character representing the traditions of rural African-American communities and the aspects of African-American life associated with the South. On the other hand, Dee can be read as a symbol of the complexities of assimilation.”, one sister keeps the tradition of the family and the other is not mean person but choses a different path.Gillespie concludes saying this” By the end of the story, the reader comes to understand and to sympathize with the perspectives of Maggie and her mother and to question the imposition of external values and judgments on communities that may have different but no less valid and valuable cultural understandings.”, she interprets that neither the decision of Maggie or Dee are bad, both decisions are right according to them, their values and judgment are equal valid for both of
Abi is under-age and overworked physically and mentally. Abi has five siblings and it appears as if it is her responsibility to take her siblings to and from school. This responsibility seems to impact on how she is making choices about her future. She is worried if she gets a job, she will not be able to help her mother to take care of her siblings which may amplify the already existing family conflicts. It appears as if she is under pressure from her mother and stepfather to undertake this duty.
“Back then,” she wrote, “children were not prepared like they are today for the arrival of a new baby in the family. After being the only child for such a long time it was a bit of a shock to have to share with this new little person.” Previously her uncles, George Calvert and David Grant, had spoilt her. John’s arrival meant the sharing of those attentions and many others. Nevertheless, Anna became very proud of her “little red haired brother”, who she would take out in his pram. In his early schooldays, whenever he was bullied for “being a ginger”, Anna had his back, at least until he was big enough to fight his own
In its simplest form, a child is a product of a man and a woman but Alice Walker one of the foremost authors during the twentieth century, adds depth to her black American women by focusing on the role that race and gender played in their development. Family reunions can be times of great anticipation, excitement and happiness but for Dee, a young, beautiful, African American and our leading character, it was a reunion with underlying, unspoken tensions. Dee was Dee but Dee had changed; a new husband, nice clothes, and a college degree to boat. Maybe that college degree certificate could be farmed and hung on the wall replacing that old photo of George Washington Carver, out with the old and in with the new. Alice Walker is showing how one’s education influences thoughts about traditions. There are two different ways of thinking about the traditions and the author realizes and put them as two characters in the story. The evidence of culture and traditions become very clear with the introduction of the family quilt. For example, Dee says that “the quilts are priceless” and decides to keep them as a material substances. Maggie, her sister, also sees the quilt as priceless but priceless as it relates to her culture. Walker focuses on African American heritage and its value. She emphasizes that cultures are the foundation of families and pointing out to the reader that traditions are rooted in everyday use.
In ‘Winter Dreams’, the ending is unexpected. Throughout the story, we are under the impression that this is the story of Dexter Green's love for Judy Jones. But at the end of the story, once Dexter finds out that Judy has lost her charms and settled into a bad marriage, we begin to wonder if this story is about something else entirely. Dexter does not weep for Judy. He weeps for himself, for the young man he once was and for the illusions he once held.
The mother in Tillie Olsen’s story, “I Stand Here Ironing” gives insight into the upbringing of her first child. We see she is guilty of neglect towards Emily and is distressed due to poor decisions that she had made rearing her daughter. The mother reflects on the past and thinks that her actions and “lack of” might have affected Emily. She is so engulfed in “what ifs” and “how could I’s” that she is practically beating herself mentally. Poor Emily received little attention when attention was needed, allowing us to condemn the mother for her actions. At the same time we understand her because in the past 19 years there were certain situations that they endured where she had no control, leaving her helpless.
The first two people Janie depended on were her Grandmother, whom she called Nanny, and Logan Killicks. Janie’s marriage to Logan Killicks was partially arranged by Nanny. Nanny had felt the need to find someone for Janie to depend on before she died and Janie could no longer depend on her. At first, Janie was very opposed to the marriage. Nanny responded with, “’Tain’t Logan Killicks Ah wants you to have, baby, it’s protection. ...He (God) done spared me...a few days longer till Ah see you safe in life.”(p.14) Nanny instilled the sense of needing a man for safety on Janie that Janie keeps with her throughout her life. After Nanny’s death, Janie continued to stay with Logan despite her dislike for him. She would have left immediately, however, if she did not need to depend on him.
Robert Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays” depicts a man remembering and examining his childhood. The speaker recalls how his father worked tirelessly despite receiving no recognition or appreciation. The father continued to labor everyday for his family because the strength of his love overpowered the despair of the thankless job that his son could not understand.
...parents were much more successful in the working world encouraged him to complete many daily activities such as choir and piano lessons. His parents engaged him in conversations that promoted reasoning and negotiation and they showed interest in his daily life. Harold’s mother joked around with the children, simply asking them questions about television, but never engaged them in conversations that drew them out. She wasn’t aware of Harold’s education habits and was oblivious to his dropping grades because of his missing assignments. Instead of telling one of the children to seek help for a bullying problem she told them to simply beat up the child that was bothering them until they stopped. Alex’s parents on the other hand were very involved in his schooling and in turn he scored very well in his classes. Like Lareau suspected, growing up
...e she explained that she has placed the mother with her child. So from the activity I got that they child think everything big is a mother and anything small is a baby to her.
The conditions that the adult sees the child is naked dirty in the snow. Now this is the parents’ responsibilities for selling him to the masters of Chimney Sweepers. The kids wouldn’t had this problem of being outside naked and dirty in the snow if the parents would’ve stayed with their and tried to survive,
and her child(ren). That the mother struggles to give the basic necessities for her child(ren). But
In order to grow and learn as a person, one must be a dynamic person and not static. A character is dynamic when a person undergoes an important inner transformation in their personality and/or attitude. A static character is the opposite of dynamic; static characters are defined in such a way that the character does not portray any changes from the beginning of the story to the end of the story. In Shakespeare’s play, The Winter’s Tale, there are a couple of characters that are dynamic, but there are also characters that are static.