The entire structure of Mama Day is fitting to the telling of multiple love stories entertwined. Like the most heartfelt episode of Seinfeld ever Gloria Naylor doesn’t tell a love story, but rather lays out in detail the events of everyday life for all of the central characters. In the process the love stories of the characters are all told at once. The most obvious example is the relationship between George and Cocoa (arguably the main love story). Through the book we see them meet, fall in
typical example of a Voodoo ceremony is that described in the book Mama Lola by Karin McCarthy Brown. Here, Mama Lola, as this voodoo priestess is known, lives in Brooklyn and does all she can to stay faithful to her Haitian religion. After inviting her voodoo ‘family’ for what will be the birthday celebration of the spirit Azaka, all members, important and close gather to help set up the intricate and festive alter in the basement of Mama... ... middle of paper ... ...for the Pythia at Delphi to
Dear Mama By the same token I leave you, I leave myself (with you) Wong May, "Dear Mama" Wong May, poet extraordinaire, transnational writer, post-colonial female subject, unphotographed, barely reviewed, past unknown, present undocumented, and for all intents and purposes disappeared after 1978 somewhere in Western Europe. Things I do know about her, mostly from an entry found in Contemporary Poets, edited by Thomas Riggs: She is Chinese by birth, born November 16, 1944 in Chungking
Gloria Naylor's Mama Day Gloria Naylor's Mama Day takes place in two distinct environments, each characterized by the beliefs and ideologies of the people who inhabit the seemingly different worlds. The island of Willow Springs, comprised solely by the descendants of slaves, is set apart from the rest of the United States and is neither part of South Carolina nor Georgia. As such, its inhabitants are exempt from the laws of either state and are free to govern themselves as they see fit. Only a
Gloria Naylor's Mama Day In 1988 Gloria Naylor wrote the novel Mama Day in hopes to show the world that one can either accept the hand they are dealt and make it come out to the advantage of themselves and others, or one can hide from their pain and live a life scared of what may come in the future. Mama Day is set on an island off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia that is inhabited by the descendants of a slave population. The main characters in the novel; Ophelia, Abigail and Miranda
Gloria Naylor's Mama Day It is impossible to interpret Gloria Naylor’s 1988 novel, Mama Day, in one way. There are multiple standpoints that a reader can take in explaining various events that occur throughout the book, as well as different ways that the characters in the book interpret these events. The author never fully clarifies many questions that the story generates so as to leave the readers with the opportunity to answer them based on their own personal experiences and beliefs. The
Mama Day by Gloria Naylor The comparisons--North vs. South, city vs. country, technology vs. nature--are numerous and have been well documented in 20th century literature. Progress contrasts sharply with rooted cultural beliefs and practices. Personalities and mentalities about life, power and change differ considerably between worlds... worlds that supposed-intellectuals from the West would classify as "modern" and "backwards," respectively. When these two worlds collide, the differences--and
Mama Day by Gloria Naylor Mama Day by Gloria Naylor is a fantastic novel filled with vivid imagery and intriguing characters. Naylor weaves a realistic tale, despite the fantastic events that she describes. Her characters are believable and behave like "real people". However, Naylor's greatest asset is her descriptive powers, which not only sets the scene, but enraptures readers into Cocoa's dual worlds of New York City and Willow Springs, imprisoning us with her words. The plot centers around
Daughters of the Dust and Mama Day Although their plots are divergent, Julie Dash’s “Daughters of the Dust” and Gloria Naylor’s Mama Day possess strikingly similar elements: their setting in the islands off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia, their cantankerous-but-lovable matriarchs who are both traditional healers, and stories of migration, whether it be to the mainland or back home again. The themes of the film and the book are different but at the same time not dissimilar: Dash’s film
Gloria Naylor's Mama Day George and Ophelia grow up in significantly different environments with exposure to vastly dissimilar experiences; their diverse backgrounds have a profound impact on the way they interpret and react to situations as adults. George and Ophelia both grow up without their parents, but for different reasons. George grows up at the Wallace P. Andrews Shelter for Boys in New York. The Shelter’s strict surroundings did not provide the warm and inviting atmosphere that a
A Raisin in the Sun – Mama Mama has dreams for her family to rise from poverty and live in a better and bigger place and also for them to continue to grow together as a family. Mama has a plant that she also cares for. She takes care of this plant as if it was one of her own children. Mama's children also have their own dreams and their own plans on how to attain those dreams. The family's competing dreams are emphasized by Hansberry's recurring use of the motif--Mama's plant. In the opening
New York vs. Willow Springs in Mama Day The soft island breeze blows across the sound and the smell of the sea fills the air in Willow Springs. Meanwhile, a thousand miles away in Lower Manhattan the smell of garbage and street vendors’ hotdogs hangs in the air. These two settings are key to Gloria Naylor’s 1988 novel Mama Day where the freedom and consistency of the Sea Islands is poised against the confinement of the ever-changing city, two settings that not only changes characters’ personalities
Mama as the Ideal Mother in A Raisin in the Sun W. S. Ross once said “The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.” As simple as this quip may sound, its complex implications are amplified through the life of every person born since the beginning of humanity. What attribute makes a mother such an extraordinary influence over her young? One such attribute is the ability to nurture. Beyond the normal challenges of cooking, cleaning, schooling, singing, feeding, and changing
George’s Life Sacrifice in Gloria Naylor’s Mama Day George and Ophelia, two characters in Gloria Naylor’s Mama Day, have a complex yet intimate relationship. They meet in New York where they both live. Throughout their hardships, Ophelia and George stay together and eventually get married. Ophelia often picks fights with George to test his love for her, and time after time, he proves to her that he does love her. Gloria Naylor uses George as a Christ figure in his relationship with Ophelia
The Power Struggles in Jury of Her Peers and Mama Come Home The issue of dominance and subordinance is addressed in the short stories “A Jury of her Peers” by Susan Glaspell and “Mama Come Home” by James Tiptree, Jr. In the stories the subordinates are harmed by the dominants, but the subordinates overcome the suppression to triumph in the end. The groups with the power control the laws and the positions of the weaker group. To begin with, “A Jury of her Peers” is about the way women in
George Stevens I Remember Mama Beautifully realized, exquisitely detailed film directed by George Stevens I Remember Mama tells of a Norwegian family living in San Francisco during the beginning of this century. It is an old classical movie, based on Kathryn Forbes' novel titled Mama?s Bank Account. The film is rendered and it is a moving act of memory about how an immigrant family copes with poverty and how they try to overcome the odds of living in a foreign country. I could identify with almost
Literary Allusion in Women of Brewster Place, Linden Hills, and Mama Day Gloria Naylor has endeavored to overcome the obstacles that accompany being an African-American woman writer. In her first three novels, The Women of Brewster Place, Linden Hills, and Mama Day, Naylor succeeds not only in blurring the boundary between ethnic writing and classical writing, but she makes it her goal to incorporate the lives of African-Americans into an art form with universal appeal. Gloria Naylor explains
Big Mama Thornton, like many other early blues musicians, made music that was reflective of that time in history. Her lyrics tell a story of which her fans have the ability to relate their lives to. For example, Big Mama Thornton’s “Hound Dog” is an extended-metaphor of a man who is bad for a woman. The first two lines in her song say, “You ain’t nothing but a hound dog, Been snoopin’ ‘round my door.” This line is comparing a dog to a man in a relationship, more specifically a hound dog. A hound
Analyzing/ Evaluating a Movie Y tu mama tambien Y tu mama tambien by Alfonso Cuaron is the movie evaluated in the next paragraphs. The movie is starred by Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna, and the Spanish Maribel Verdu. The movie starts with the typical two best friends Julio (Garcia Bernal) and Tenoch (Luna) whose girlfriends are about to depart for summer vacations. As they leave the airport, after their take off they continue to their own world of irreverence and over stimulated hormones. So despite
presents Mama and Maggie, the younger daughter, as an example that heritage in both knowledge and form passes from one generation to another through a learning and experience connection. However, by a broken connection, Dee, the older daughter, represents a misconception of heritage as material. During Dee's visit to Mama and Maggie, the contrast of the characters becomes a conflict because Dee misplaces the significance of heritage in her desire for racial heritage. Mama and