Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs in my field, since the payment is pure love (Vermont 2014). “Tuesday Siesta” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and “The Stolen Party” by Liliana Heker share many similarities and differences. Both short stories write about mothers who are struggling financially. Both mother characters in the stories were faced with a difficult circumstance, however, they each dealt with it in different ways. Lastly, the mothers in the short stories were portrayed differently. The mother in “Tuesday Siesta” was soft spoken and gentle whereas the mother in “The Stolen Party” was more abrupt, harsh and unrefined. In the short stories, “Tuesday Siesta” and “The Stolen Party”, both authors portray two less fortunate …show more content…
The mother from “Tuesday Siesta” just lost her son and had gone with her daughter to the priest’s house to go visit her son’s grave… ““He’s the thief who was killed here last week”, said the woman in the same tone voice, “I am his mother”” (Marquez 374). He was a thief and was killed by an old widow, named Rebecca, who was terrified and fired gun shots when she heard someone in the front of her house. She accepts the fact that he was a thief because it pains her less than when he was a boxer. The mother from the other story, “The Stolen Party” is also confronted by a difficult situation. Rosaura’s mother was concerned that her daughter would be used/treated as a maid, instead of being treated like every other guest. Her daughter is separated from the rest of the people at the party because she is not as wealthy and she is only the maid’s daughter. Rosaura being an ignorant child, refused to believe this at the beginning of the story and throughout the party. She finally comes to the realization that she cannot break through class stereotypes. “In her hand appeared two bills. You really and truly earned this, she said handing them over. Thank you for all your help” (Heker 32). The harsh reality is exposed to Rosaura when Luciana’s mother hands her money to thank her for all her help during the …show more content…
The old mother in “Tuesday Siesta” was soft spoken and gentle whereas the mother in “The Stolen Party” was more abrupt, harsh and unrefined. The mother in “Tuesday Siesta spoke to her daughter, the priest and his sister very calmly, even though there were times throughout the story that her tone of her words got more harsh but the tone and volume of her voice did not change. “It was a brief and self-assured reply, but her voice remained pleasant, full of undertones” (Marquez 373). During this situation, the mother was getting agitated that the priest had said for them to come back after three. Her and her daughter had spent so long traveling and she was not about to turn all the way back home, without visiting her sons grave. On the other hand, the mother from “The Stolen Party” was abrupt and harsh. Her daughter was invited to the birthday party of her mothers’ employer. She was a maid. The mother was none too impressed with her daughter wanting to go to the party because she knew her daughter would be treated different then everyone else. “… The problem with you, young lady, is that you like to fart higher than your ass” (Heker 27). It seemed the mother said what was on her mind, without thinking of how others perceive it or how it makes them
The story “Woman Hollering Creek" by Sandra Cisneros describes the lives of Mexicans in a Chicago neighborhood. She depicts the life that women endure as Latino wives through her portrayal of the protagonist, Cleofilas. For Cisneros being a Mexican-American has given her a chance to see life from two different cultures. In addition, Cisneros has written the story from a woman’s perspective, illustrating the types of conflicts many women face as Latino wives. This unique paradigm allows the reader to examine the events and characters using a feminist critical perspective.
The mother is described as a caring, hardworking individual to her offspring. “A baby to one shoulder, a dish towel to the other” (8) this mother displays the true perception of motherhood. Willingly, this mother ensures that her children are well taken care of before her own well –being. Though she experience challenging situations, she outcast
This article, Life as a Maid’s Daughter by Mary Romero, takes the reader through the life a girl named Teresa. She lived a unique life, because she was able to see the differences ways in which different races and social classes of people live in America. Teresa and her mother Carmen are lower class Mexican-Americans, and the people that Carmen is a maid for are upper-middle class white Americans. Throughout her life Teresa learns about different aspects of herself (i.e. race, social class, gender, and family) through interactions with her biological family and the families of the employers.
To sum it up, based on the story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, the mother’s words and actions mentioned previously showed differences between the two sisters when faced with various situations as the narrative unfolds. It seems like the mother picked favorites amongst her daughters although, that may or may not be the case. The mother’s actions and language caused the sisters to react a certain way towards her which in turn is what makes them different, unique in personality, looks, and actions.
To understand fully the implicit meaning and cultural challenges the film presents, a general knowledge of the film’s contents must be presented. The protagonist, Tita, suffers from typical Hispanic cultural oppression. The family rule, a common rule in this culture, was that the youngest daughter is to remain unwed for the duration of her mother’s life, and remain home to care for her. Mama Elena offers her daughter, Tita’s older sister Rosaura, to wed a man named Pedro, who is unknowingly in mutual love with Tita. Tita is forced to bake the cake for the wedding, which contains many tears that she cried during the process. Tita’s bitter tears cause all the wedding guests to become ill after consuming the cake, and Tita discovers she can influence others through her cooking. Throughout the film, Tita’s cooking plays an important role in all the events that transpire.
In novels, Incidents in the Life of a Slave girl, by Harriet A. Jacobs and The Awakening by Kate Chopin motherhood is portrayed in many different ways. The two stories differ in my way but both encounter similarities of motherhood in various ways. Both women were both essentially slaves in their own lives, both literally and theoretical. Both women portrayed motherhood by what I think it making a life for their children better, either before or after themselves.
The portrayal of gender in this text shows the husband as the prime breadwinner of the household while the wife stays home to clean the house and tend for the children. This is clearly our traditional family lifestyle of a household. Now although this can be considered traditional, we clearly see this lifestyle outdated in our twenty-first century society today. The text is demonstrated to show the young daughter her place in society, and teach the young girl the everyday tasks she will need to know in order to run a household smoothly and successfully. It is also clear that the mother’s life reflects all of these ideals that a husband should be the one working and the wife is to be happy and content by taking great pride and satisfaction in the caring for her home. The mother also has strong view on the behavior for a women in society and throughout the story gives many warning on her daughters behavior such as “on Sundays try and walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming”. (Kincaid 56) This is a clear statement from the mother tha...
In the story "Woman Hollering Creek" Sandra Cisneros discusses the issues of living life as a married woman through a character named Cleofilas; a character who is married to a man who abuses her physically and mentally .Cisneros reveals the way the culture puts a difference between a male and a female, men above women. Cisneros has been famous about writing stories about the latino culture and how women are treated; she explain what they go through as a child, teen and when they are married; always dominated by men because of how the culture has been adapted. "Woman Hollering Creek" is one of the best examples. A character who grows up without a mother and who has no one to guid and give her advise about life.
She was not a master of style, plot development or characterization, but the intensity of feeling and aspiration are evident in her narratives that overrides her imperfections. Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street, written in 1984, and Anzia Yezierska’s Bread Givers, published in 1925, are both aimed at adolescent and adult audiences that deal with deeply disturbing themes about serious social conditions and their effects on children as adults. Both books are told in the first person; both narrators are young girls living in destitute neighborhoods; and both young girls witness the harsh realities of life for those who are poor, abused, and hopeless. Although the narrators face these overwhelming obstacles, they manage to survive their tough environments with their wits and strength remaining intact. Esperanza, a Chicano with three sisters and one brother, has had a dream of having her own things since she was ten years old.
How do the mother and child relations, in the books, Blood Wedding and Like Water For Chocolate reveal the characteristics of the mothers?
Before I actually started to think deeply about the short story, I thought it was just a simple idea, which was a girl named Rosaura that went to a party. This story, The Stolen Party is really about the relationship between Rosaura and Luciana and how money breaks them apart. Now that I think about, this story has a really deep meaning. The author that wrote this is really good at foreshadowing and symbolizing the important key pieces in the story. What the author is trying to hide is that Rosaura is getting used as a helper and that she is not considered as a true friend to Luciana. She is being used as a worker, just like the monkey that gets mentioned in the short story. In spite of the fact that this appears like a basic story that doesn't mean a lot, there are a ton of main ideas.
Many are confined in a marriage in which they are unhappy with, and are reductant to make a change. Some are committed to make a change for themselves. Esperanza ponders each one of these women's lives. Through each role model Esperanza gains crucial life lessons on how to overcome different life hardships. Through some women like her great-grandmother and Ruthie, Esperanza learns she must take control her fate, to avoid marrying young, and not let a male figure dictate her future. Other women like Alicia, Esperanza learns to keep pursuing goals in life and to take control of her destiny no matter what obstruction may lay ahead. From Esperanza’s role models, the moral lesson that can be taken away is to be proactive about your life and to shape your own future. Everyone is a role model to somebody in their life. Strive to leave a positive message behind for the ones shadowing in your
It has been extremely complicated for working mothers both, to take care of their children appropriately and work. “Government had created federal or state programs for childcare, women who had work in the law-wage sector, usually lose their jobs when their children require urgent attention. These situations make them reconsider their plans on becoming a mother” (Rosen, 3 of 7).
Each mother had high expectations for their lives as they came towards America, and especially their daughter’s lives. “In America I will have...
“The logic of intensive mothering, particularly as it applies to middle- and upper-middle-class mothers, therefore seems to be the greatest barrier to solving the problems detailed in this book….Nearly all mothers, for instance, feel they ought to be at home with their children, ought to want to be at home with their children, and ought to be their children’s primary parent.” Pg. 201 This quote from Untangling the Mother-Nanny Knot emphasizes on the fact that these working mothers need to let go a of that temperament that they must keep the nanny, their spouse and anyone else away from their child at any cost. Because they are not able to be there for their kids they can rest their mind knowing that the person with their child when they are not present is someone that will love them and care for them no matter what, and all the working mother must do is let go just a