Four siblings have been through more than the average person can even imagine; they’ve braved unwanted visitors, disrespect, and loss of both people they love and material possessions. To many readers, this plot may sound familiar. Written by Bill and Vera Cleaver, the novel Where the Lilies Bloom has much more in common with the well-known fairy tale Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Important characters in the novel include the four Luther siblings (fourteen-year-old Mary Call, eighteen-year-old Devola, ten-year-old Romey, and five-year-old Ima Dean), Roy Luther (their father), Cosby Luther (their deceased but often spoken of mother) Kiser Pease (their neighbor), and Goldie Pease (Kiser’s sister). In the novel, the siblings lose their father …show more content…
For example, when Mary Call comes back from attempting to wildcraft on her own and getting stung by hornets, she finds Kiser sitting on the porch in Roy Luther’s chair. Kiser gives Mary Call the chair and reveals his intrusive nature: “While I was waiting for some of you’uns to come back I took the freedom of tryin’ to get in to speak to Roy Luther, but his door wuz locked” (Cleaver 109). This tells the reader and Mary Call that Kiser has entered their house without them knowing and without their permission while they’re away, like Goldilocks does to the bears in Goldilocks and the Three Bears. After entering the house and finding himself unable to enter the bedroom, Kiser takes a seat in the Luthers’ rocker, furthering the comparison. In this scene and many others in the novel, Kiser Pease takes on the role of a common metaphor for Goldilocks in contrast to the Luthers’ three …show more content…
In this scene, winter is upon the Luthers; they’re struggling to keep food on the table, and eventually even the roof of their house gives way to the snow. In the middle of the night, Mary Call hears the crash and rushes in to examine the damage: “And I… saw Cosby Luther’s rocker all splintered, lying on its side and snow on the floor and underneath it what had been the ceiling” (Cleaver 153). This rocker is one of the very few things these siblings have left to remember their mother by; it’s something they value greatly, so most of them are devastated when it’s broken. This alludes to the key scene in Goldilocks and the Three Bears where Goldilocks sits in the littlest bear’s chair until she eventually breaks it. It’s a bit of an odd thought to compare a little girl to an unlucky snowdrift, but the two have more in common than the reader may
In Christmas 1910, Robert Butler uses plot and character to reflect on the setting of the short story. The setting takes place in her third Christmas in the west river country, which is described as a bad, hopeless and depressing place. There is nothing there but flat lands everywhere. There is nothing better for Abigail to do to make her life better there, so she just has to do what her parents do. The areas around them are even desolated. Due to droughts, it makes South Dakota lonely and go through some hard times. The winter makes it hard for people to interact with other people. Abigail needs her own character, she wants attention from people that are not her family. The weather where they live is not your typical ideal weather, Abigail
I’ve been reading Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly. For our first book meeting I was absent, but our group decided on reading through Chapter 4, which was about 64 pages. The book follows three main characters; Herta, a German doctor; Caroline, an ex-Broadway actress; and Kasia, a Catholic teenager living in Poland. Each chapter switches the perspective to one of these characters and tells part of their story. The structure of this book really helps me keep reading because every chapter is different. If you are bored with the chapter you are on, you know the next chapter will be breath of fresh air. It’s hard to fully capture the personality from only one or two chapters, but I’m not in love with all of the characters. Caroline, who works as
Marigolds “Marigolds,” written by the author Eugenia W. Collier, begins with the main character, Elizabeth. The story is told in first person, being told by Elizabeth when she gets older. “Marigolds” takes place in Maryland during the Depression. The reader can tell it is the time of the Depression because in the story it says, “The Depression that gripped the nation was no new thing to us, for the black workers of rural Maryland had always been depressed.” Both the setting and time in this short story are important.
Lily’s idea of home is having loving parent/mother figures who can help guide her in life. Because of this desire, she leaves T. Ray and begins to search for her true identity. This quest for acceptance leads her to meet the Calendar Sisters. This “home” that she finds brightly displays the ideas of identity and feminine society. Though Lily could not find these attributes with T. Ray at the peach house, she eventually learns the truth behind her identity at the pink house, where she discovers the locus of identity that resides within herself and among the feminine community there. Just like in any coming-of-age story, Lily uncovers the true meaning of womanhood and her true self, allowing her to blossom among the feminine influence that surrounds her at the pink house. Lily finds acceptance among the Daughters of Mary, highlighting the larger meaning of acceptance and identity in the novel.
The voice of the speaker in “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” is that of an individual that is stressed out or overwhelmed. He or she just needs to take a mental break from everything and, “stop by the words/to watch [them] fill with snow.” The reader knows that this person needs to take this mental break based upon how long they stay there. He or she stays in the woods so long that their horse “give his harness bells a shake/to ask if there is some mistake.” In other words, the horse is confused; here he stands in these woods “without a farmhouse near [and] the only other sound [he hears, aside from his own bells, are,] the sweep of easy wind and [a] downy flake.” This sense of being overwhelmed, and needing to take a mental break in order to remain sane, is something any reader can relate to, whether they have had a stressful day at work, a parent is using the poem as an example to show a child who has had a temper tantrum that they are being puni...
Lily is finally able to let go of the burdens she holds as her trust for August grows. She is able to come clean to August about all the lies and explains the real reason her and Rosaleen are in Tiburon. As the true story of Deborah unfolds, August is able to finally understand the troubles Lily face and how depleted the young girl is. With the help of August and all of the other influential black women Lily encounters along this journey, she is finally able to release her burdens and believe in the strength she possesses within. The last scene of the novel includes this powerful imagery of Lily’s new life, “I go back to that one moment when I stood in the driveway with small rocks and clumps of dirt around my feet and looked back at the porch. And there they were. All these mothers… They are the moons shining over me” (302). It is clear Lily can now grow and develop as the young woman she has always yearned to become with these important new women in her life there to guide her and be her supporters. They have shown Lily that she needs to be her own number one provider of love and strength, but as seen in this imagery, they will always be there when she needs them. By using this technique at the end of the book, Kidd is able to wrap Lily’s
Janie's Grandmother is the first bud on her tree. She raised Janie since she was a little girl. Her grandmother is in some respects a gardener pruning and shaping the future for her granddaughter. She tries to instill a strong belief in marriage. To her marriage is the only way that Janie will survive in life. What Nanny does not realize is that Janie has the potential to make her own path in the walk of life. This blinds nanny, because she is a victim of the horrible effects of slavery. She really tries to convey to Janie that she has her own voice but she forces her into a position where that voice is silenced and there for condemning all hopes of her Granddaughter become the woman that she is capable of being.
As he slouches in bed, a description of the bare trees and an old woman gathering coal are given to convey to the reader an idea of the times and the author's situation. "All groves are bare," and "unmarried women (are) sorting slate from arthracite." This image operates to tell the reader that it is a time of poverty, or a "yellow-bearded winter of depression." No one in the town has much to live for during this time. "Cold trees" along with deadness, through the image of "graves," help illustrate the author's impression of winter. Wright seems to be hibernating from this hard time of winter, "dreaming of green butterflies searching for diamonds in coal seams." This conveys a more colorful and happy image showing what he wishes was happening; however he knows that diamonds are not in coal seams and is brought back to the reality of winter. He talks of "hills of fresh graves" while dreaming, relating back to the reality of what is "beyond the streaked trees of (his) window," a dreary, povern-strucken, and cold winter.
In the book, The Secret Life of Bees, my impression of Lily changes throughout the book because as she is learning and finding new information about her family, more specifically her mom and her reactions to the information she receives. For the rest of the book, I believe Lily gave me 3 different impressions. The 3 are that she feels insecure about herself, lonely, and a bit self-centered but also can be forgiving and loving.Throughout the story, many impressions changes as the situation changes.
The thought of her brothers still being in her former home environment in Maine hurt her. She tried to think of a way to get at least one of her brothers, the sickly one, to come and be with her. She knew that her extended family was financially able to take in another child, and if she showed responsibility, there would be no problem (Wilson, 40). She found a vacant store, furnished it, and turned it into a school for children (Thinkquest, 5). At the age of seventeen, her grandmother sent her a correspondence, and requested her to come back to Boston with her brother (Thinkquest, 6).
Jewel, Addie's son by Whitfield, is 18 years old. Like Pearl, the product of Hester Prynne's adulterous affair in Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter, Jewel's name is a symbol of the value his mother places on him. The favoritism that Addie showed him is responsible for the antagonism between him and Darl. Jewel personifies Addie's preference for experience over words. He is always in motion. He expresses himself best through actions. When he verbalizes his love for Addie- in his single monologue- he does so with a violent fantasy about hurling down stones on outsiders. Elsewhere, he expresses his love for her through deeds, not words.
“Danny’s Plant”, by Meish Goldish, is about how Danny’s mom and his science teacher, Mr. Morgan, played a trick on Danny, so he would be more interested in horticulture. In the beginning of the book, Danny was not interested in horticulture, and his mom thought it was a problem. So, she made a bet with Danny. She would give him his own plant, and if he would have to tell his plant a joke everyday and water everyday. If he could make it grow like crazy, his mom would win, but if it didn’t grow, he would get a new music tape that he wanted. Immediately, Danny confirmed the bet. The article,”Probing Question: Does talking to plants help them grow?”, states that many people believe in talking to their plants, but you need a certain tone or volume
Through her three marriages, the death of her one true love, and proving her innocence in Tea Cake’s death, Janie learns to look within herself to find her hidden voice. Growing as a person from the many obstacles she has overcome during her forty years of life, Janie finally speaks her thoughts, feelings and opinions. From this, she finds what she has been searching for her whole life, happiness.
In “The Violets” I entwine the past and present, the reoccurring flower motif of ‘spring violets’ sprout in both memory and reality to reflect the persona’s age and perceptions “I kneel to pick frail melancholy flowers among ashes and loam”. The violets portray the persona as an adult, whose gained knowledge and lacking innocence has created a critical, melancholic view on her world. This is juxtaposed by the persona’s childhood perception; “spring violets in their loamy bed”. In childhood, beauty was simplistic and untainted by knowledge and human experience; blessed by innocence.
Grief played a large role in the lives of the Boatwright sisters and Lily Owens. They each encountered death, injustice, and sadness. Grief impacted and left an imprint on each of them. Grief proved fatal for May. August knew that grief was just another aspect of life; that it had to be accepted and then left in the past. June and Lily learned to not let grief rule their lives. Life is not inherently good or bad – events not solely joyful or grievous – it is glorious in its perfect imperfection.