The idea of leaving home for the first time lingers in the mind of adolescents who are soon bound to leave home and find their purpose and calling in the world. Whether this is to pursue a higher education at a collegiate level, chase after a dream in an industry, or simply begin work, these unavoidable life events embody the definition of independence. This is the essence of Linda Pastan’s poem, “To a Daughter Leaving Home,” which depicts the struggles of leaving home and letting go and through this the theme of finding independence is revealed. In brief, the poem commences with a young girl learning to ride a bicycle through the help of her parents, however, as the girl matures and grows she begins to rely less on her parents to ride the …show more content…
Perhaps the first glance of independence adolescents receive is when they obtain a driver’s license, get a job, or head off to college. Like the daughter in the poem, this is an exciting and transformative time in the individual’s life. For the parents, however, regardless of how much preparation they’ve done or how many times they’ve guided their daughter on her bike through the curves on the path, there’s always this fear of the unexpected turns.This fear comes with letting go and allowing the daughter to fall on her own if the path becomes tricky. Pastan tries to incorporate the elements of the hardship and difficulties that arise from finding independence. The diction that the poet utilizes allows the reader to interpret the poem in distinct ways. The word choice is simple, yet, the meaning digs deeper than a girl riding her bicycle on an afternoon with her parents watching. The style also allows the reader to focus on how the girl is evolving and transitioning into a stage where she is being introduced to independence. Finally, Pastan’s use of imagery is a key component in the poem that enables the reader to visualize that events transcending. These three elements effectively work in unison to reveal a pertinent theme and is a glimpse at the reality of independence and the difficulties of leaving and letting
In her poem “The School Children”, Louise Gluck uses imagery by applying an extended metaphor to show how going to school is similar to going to battle and by describing the mothers’ actions through the use of vivid verbs to portray the disconnection between children and their guardians, despite the sacrifices that mothers make.
The speaker’s rocky encounter with her ex-lover is captured through personification, diction, and tone. Overall, the poem recaps the inner conflicts that the speak endures while speaking to her ex-lover. She ponders through stages of the past and present. Memories of how they were together and the present and how she feels about him. Never once did she broadcast her emotions towards him, demonstrating the strong facade on the outside, but the crumbling structure on the inside.
Personal freedom is an inalienable right that everyone deserves. It is a powerful idea that provides courage for those who are afraid, infuses hope to those who are desperate, and grants strength to those who are oppressed. However, for the idea to come to reality, one must be mature enough to embrace and act upon it. The novel Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel tells the story of Tita, a young girl who lives under the iron fisted rule of Mama Elena. From a young inexperienced girl, to a full grown and independent woman, Tita fights against Mama Elena’s rules before and after her death, in order to make her own choice about herself. Through her struggle for freedom, Tita molds herself into a mature woman.
Teenage rebellion is typically portrayed in stories, films, and other genres as a testosterone-based phenomenon. There is an overplayed need for one to acknowledge a boy’s rebellion against his father, his life direction, the “system,” in an effort to become a man, or rather an adult. However, rarely is the female addressed in such a scenario. What happens when little girls grow up? Do they rebel? Do they, in a sudden overpowering rush of estrogen, deny what has been taught to them from birth and shed their former youthful façades? Do they turn on their mothers? In Sharon Olds’ poem, “The Possessive,” the reader is finally introduced to the female version of the popular coming-of-age theme as a simple haircut becomes a symbol for the growing breach between mother and daughter through the use of striking images and specific word choice.
In the story “Where are you going, Where have you been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, the main character, Connie, experiences life not having an actively participating mother or father. Most adolescents struggle with the transition from teen-age years to adulthood. For many, this is where the parents step in. Parents are meant to support and help an adolescent when needed, especially during this difficult transition; however, this is not always true. In Connie’s case, her parents allowed her to make the change alone and endure hard times. As a result, she lacked the values needed to survive. Such values are used to equip a young person for the real world and the tragedies that come with it. As seen in “Where are you going, Where have you been?”, Connie was a victim of poor guidance and empty judgment. The dysfunctional family’s behavior was reflected in Connie. Her mother envied her, and her father was not an active figure in her life. Connie 's
Although the little girl doesn’t listen to the mother the first time she eventually listens in the end. For example, in stanzas 1-4, the little girl asks if she can go to the Freedom March not once, but twice even after her mother had already denied her the first time. These stanzas show how the daughter is a little disobedient at first, but then is able to respect her mother’s wishes. In stanzas 5 and 6, as the little girl is getting ready the mother is happy and smiling because she knows that her little girl is going to be safe, or so she thinks. By these stanzas the reader is able to tell how happy the mother was because she thought her daughter would be safe by listening to her and not going to the March. The last two stanzas, 7 and 8, show that the mother senses something is wrong, she runs to the church to find nothing, but her daughter’s shoe. At this moment she realizes that her baby is gone. These stanzas symbolize that even though her daughter listened to her she still wasn’t safe and is now dead. The Shoe symbolizes the loss the mother is going through and her loss of hope as well. This poem shows how elastic the bond between the daughter and her mother is because the daughter respected her mother’s wish by not going to the March and although the daughter is now dead her mother will always have her in her heart. By her having her
Though the poems “At the San Francisco Airport” and “To a Daughter Leaving Home” both deal with the issue of the speaker’s daughters leaving home to begin their adult lives and forge their own paths, the attitudes of the speakers could not be more contrasting. Between their divergent tone and language of the stanzas, the sound patterns, and drastically different use of imagery, each speaker’s willingness to let their daughter go is showcased.
In the words of entrepreneur Brandi Harvey, “You are enough, without anyone else’s stamp, without anyone else’s validation or approval.” In this quote, she validates the fact that people, women in particular, do not need somebody to tell them they are sufficient enough— a woman does not need a man to provide for her needs, make her happy, or make her feel good about herself. It shows that women who lose their independence often lose their dreams as well. This idea centers all throughout the book, “My Antonia” by Willa Cather. In this book, the author focuses on the life of a young man named Jim and the many diverse women that surrounds him all from he was a small boy to a grown man. The idea of independence
Fulfilling the roles of both mother and breadwinner creates an assortment of reactions for the narrator. In the poem’s opening lines, she commences her day in the harried role as a mother, and with “too much to do,” (2) expresses her struggle with balancing priorities. After saying goodbye to her children she rushes out the door, transitioning from both, one role to the next, as well as, one emotion to another. As the day continues, when reflecting on
To conclude, “Daystar” and “To a Daughter Leaving Home”, both shared various similarities and differences regarding symbolism and mood throughout both poems. It was easily seen that even in general societal time periods, the mood of “To a Daughter Leaving Home” was very common. Though, in “Daystar” a lot of the responsibilities of a mother was leased over the years and I believe that more roles in the household are now equal. Poetry in these contexts allow the readers to realize the reality of life taken from a parent’s perspective and maybe some of the changes that it has took over the years. I personally enjoyed reading both poems, because it not only gave me the real life outlook of parenthood, but it shows me how my parents view me and
The author uses imagery, contrasting diction, tones, and symbols in the poem to show two very different sides of the parent-child relationship. The poem’s theme is that even though parents and teenagers may have their disagreements, there is still an underlying love that binds the family together and helps them bridge their gap that is between them.
... mothers, the ability to pick out their own clothes is different from their mothers choosing what they will wear. What separates us from our parents and our friends, our neighbors, our coworkers—it’s rebellion. The differences between us define us and make us matter. And this begins in childhood. It begins with blue hair dye, blown curfews, and mouthing off. The self needs distance if it is to form.
Home is a place where one should feel comfortable and safe. This aspect of a home is especially important as child. Comfort and safety is key to allowing a child to be able to explore who they are and in allowing the child to develop into a successful person. In Home Frank Money did not feel comfortable or safe in Lotus, Georgia. Lotus was described as having an unforgiving population, isolated, and indifferent to Frank’s future (Morrison 16). As a child, Frank was even deprived of a bed, which many view as a standard necessity of a home. His parents busy working, were not able to look after him and so he was left to be raised by his harsh “wicked witch” grandm...
Cymbeline and The Tempest illustrate daughterhood as a daughter’s inability to break the boundaries of the relationship with the father. The impact on daughterhood arises from a father’s behaviour, which influences the daughter’s actions. Innogen in Cymbeline and Miranda in The Tempest seek to understand self-acceptance over their father’s lack of trust towards them. Therefore, a father’s lack of trust disrupts the daughter’s ability to find self-trust; Innogen and Miranda rebel as an act of self-control to find trust with themselves. They also realize their problems and self-worth. In other words, the daughters reflect on their problems to take control and protect themselves. Innogen and Miranda represent daughterhood as an emotional journey that reflect the impact of a father’s trust.
Anne Sexton, a poet who discovered her “poetic voice” as an adult, made works of poetry that focused on personal issues or works made specific to issues of women. Her poem “Young” portrays her work of personal issues. In this poem, she talks about how hard her life was when she was young. Sexton explains all the troubles in her life that can relate to most girls’ lives today in her poem. Some of these troubles include her parents being split up, being a lonely kid and other things that some girls have to deal with. Anne Sexton uses connotation, attitude and shift in the poem “Young” in order to illustrate the theme of suffering depression.