Importance of Women in Russell Baker’s Growing Up

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Different readers could interpret Russell Baker’s Growing Up in many ways. The book gives insight into his life, from his humble childhood to his successful adulthood. By describing the events in his life, he is also paying tribute to the important women who shaped him. These women were his Mother, Grandmother, and wife. All three were vital influences on him, and made him who he is in the present day. My interpretation focuses on those women more than any other factor in Russell’s life, most importantly, his mother Lucy Elizabeth.
Lucy Elizabeth was Russell’s symbol of strength, a pillar of confidence. She was a fierce woman who was not afraid to speak her mind, and when she did she spoke it in an educated manner. He may have been bothered by her strict ways, but in reality she was his idol. Her strength brought Russell and his sister Doris through many hard times, and her will to succeed and be the best was instilled in him for life. There are many examples of such strength in the text of Growing Up to fill fifty pages, but I will only list what I feel are the most important ones. One of the biggest struggles Lucy Elizabeth had to endure was the fact that she conceived Russell out of wedlock. Unlike the present day, in 1925 this was sternly looked upon, especially for schoolteachers such as herself. Her pregnancy cost her, her job and forced her into marrying an alcoholic with an overbearing mother. Lucy’s life changed abruptly a few years after Russell’s birth when her h...

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