In the novel “Homecoming” by Yaa Gyasi, the family tree of two half-sisters, Effia and Esi, is explored. Although they share blood, these half-sisters are sent down completely different paths. Each successive generation of the family tree is impacted as a result of the disparate experiences of these half-sisters. The novel begins with the story of Effia, as known as “Effia the Beauty.” Effia grew up feeling ashamed and unloved because of the lack of affection she received from Baaba, the non-biological mother of Effia. In the novel, it is described how Baaba dreamed of leaving Effia as a child in the dark forest so that the god Myame could do with her as he pleased. The acts of cruelty Baaba inflicted on Effia continued into adulthood. For instance, in her last visit to her village, a pregnant Effia was told by Baaba that she was “..nothing from nowhere. No mother and now no father” (Gyasi 27). Although she was not her biological mother, Effia considered Baaba as her mother because she had no other mother figure in her life. Throughout her childhood and adolescence,
Growing up, the mother of Yiyun would constantly accuse her of being selfish. On more than one occasion, the mother of Yiyun would take it upon herself to belittle her daughter. Even on special occasions, like on her wedding day, Yiyun stated how her mother said to her that she will likely divorce. Understandably, the words of her mother would torture Yiyun. However, according to Yiyun, she was the favored daughter in spite of her mother’s insults because she was smarter and prettier. Yiyun states that her sister suffered more than she did. As a result of the constant emotional abuse from her mother, Yiyun was left with an emotional burden that she carried with her into
In addition, Remi’s handicap is also an important theme in this story. His mother only tried to understand and protect her son, while the other native women in her club, who also have “frog children”
In the young life of Essie Mae, she had a rough childhood. She went through beatings from her cousin, George Lee, and was blamed for burning down her house. Finally Essie Mae got the nerve to stand up for herself and her baby sister, Adline as her parents were coming in from their work. Her dad put a stop to the mistreatment by having her and her sister watched by their Uncle Ed. One day while Essie Mae's parents were having an argument, she noticed that her mothers belly was getting bigger and bigger and her mom kept crying more and more. Then her mother had a baby, Junior, while the kids were out with their Uncle Ed. Her uncle took her to meet her other two uncles and she was stunned to learn that they were white. She was confused by this but when she asked her mom, Toosweet, about it her mom would not give her an answer one way or the other. Once her mom had the baby, her father started staying out late more often. Toosweet found out that her dad was seeing a woman named Florence. Not long after this, her mother was left to support her and her siblings when her father left. Her mother ended up having to move in with family until she could obtain a better paying job in the city. As her childhood went on she started school and was very good at her studies. When she was in the fourth grade, her mom started seeing a soldier named Raymond. Not too long after this, her mother got pregnant and had James. Her mother and Raymond had a rocky relationship. When James was born, Raymond's mother came and took the baby to raise because she said that raising four children was too much of a burden for a single parent to handle. Raymond went back to the service for a while but then when he came back he and Toosweet had another baby. Raymond's brothers helped him build a new house for them to live in and they brought James back to live with them. During this time Essie Mae was working for the Claiborne family and she was starting to see a different point of view on a lot of things in life. The Claiborne's treated her almost as an equal and encouraged her to better herself.
In a split level house in Dunwoody, Georgia, Fariha grew up in a semi-conservative household and a semi-conservative neighborhood with 2 brothers and both parents. She was the middle child, but always felt like the oldest due to her older brother being away at boarding school in Pennsylvania for most of her life and only came around once or twice a year. Her father worked a multi-location business so he was gone majority of the day, resulting in a not so close relationship...
Helena Maria Veramontes writes her short story “The Moths” from the first person point of view, placing her fourteen year old protagonist female character as a guide through the process of spiritual re-birth. The girl begins the story with a description of the debt she owes her Abuelita—the only adult who has treated her with kindness and respect. She describes her Apa (Father) and Ama (Mother), along with two sisters as if they live in the same household, yet are born from two different worlds. Her father is abusive, her mother chooses to stay in the background and her sisters evoke a kind of femininity that she does not possess. The girl is angry at her masculine differences and strikes out at her sisters physically. Apa tries to make his daughter conform to his strict religious beliefs, which she refuses to do and her defiance evokes abuse. The girl’s Abuelita is dying and she immerses herself in caring for her, partly to repay a debt and partly out of the deep love she has for her. As her grandmother lay dying, she begins the process of letting go. The moth helps to portray a sense of spirituality, re-birth and becomes, finally, an incarnation of the grandmother. The theme of the story is spiritual growth is born from human suffering.
In Gary Ferguson’s “The Carry Home”, he narrates his life with his wife Jane. He talks about their adventures in nature, her death, and the scattering of her ashes. Ferguson tells us how he deals with the grief of losing Jane. In the book “Wild” by Cheryl Strayed we hear about her life. Strayed writes about her childhood, her mother’s death, and her hike on the Pacific Crest Trail. Strayed also tells us about how she deals with the grief of losing her mother. Although nature plays a huge role in both of their grieving processes, Ferguson and Strayed had two very different experiences with it. Ferguson uses his friends and community to help him. He has a strong support system around him. Strayed takes the opposite approach. She isolates herself from anyone
Initially Reyna Grande and her siblings Carlos and Mago were left behind while her parent immigrated to the United States to work. During that time Grande faced many struggles among the most prevalent were her feelings of abandonment, the neglect she and her siblings faced at the hands of their paternal grandmother, and the ostracization. Reyna was left behind when she was a baby by her father and had no concrete recollection of him and her mother left when she was four. Until that point Reyna’s mother had been the only parental figure she had known. The abandonment didn’t stop at the physical absence of her mother, but also at the emotional unavailability of her mother when she finally did return. In the absence of their mother the Grande children were to be cared for by their paternal grandmother Evila who was largely hostile and neglectful. Though their grandmother provided them with housing and at least some nourishment she was in no way emotionally supportive or loving toward them often blatantly displaying her preference for their cousin Elida prominently as if to reiterate the favoritism. The children were often ostracized amongst their peers due to their status as “orphans”. In opposition to their cousin who, although in the same predicament she was seen as
In “A Long Way Gone”, we follow a twelve-year-old African boy, Ishmael Beah, who was in the midst, let alone survived a civil war in Sierra Leone, that turned his world upside down. Ishmael was a kind and innocent boy, who lived in a village where everybody knew each other and happiness was clearly vibrant amongst all the villagers. Throughout the novel, he describes the horrific scenes he encounters that would seem unreal and traumatizing to any reader. The main key to his survival is family, who swap out from being related to becoming non-blood related people who he journeys with and meets along his journey by chance.
Contents INTRODUCTION 2 CHRONOLIGICAL ARRANGEMENT OF EVENTS THAT LEAD TO CONFLICTS 3 CONCLUSION 5 INTRODUCTION An attention-grabbing story of a youngster’s voyage from beginning to end. In “A LONG WAY GONE,” Ishmael Beah, at present twenty six years old, tells a fascinating story he has always kept from everyone. When he was twelve years of age, he escaped attacking the revolutionaries and roamed a land rendered distorted by violence. By thirteen, he’d been chosen by the government, military and Ishmael Beah.
Toni Yagyuu, the main character of the novel, experiences and overcomes many obstacles while growing up in the shadow of her siblings and failing to meet the expectatio...
In the book The House on Mango Street, written by Sandra Cisneros, the main character, Esperanza, was affected by many external forces, including family. Esperanza is a young teen who just moved to Mango Street, and she doesn’t like her house because it’s ugly, and she dreams of another house that her family has promised one day. “I have inherited her name, but I don’t want to inherit her place by the window (Cisneros 11). This was in reference to her great grandmother who didn’t want to marry, but Esperanza’s great grandfather kidnapped her and forced her to marry, where Esperanza’s great grandmother never forgave him and looked out a window for the rest of her life. Esperanza didn’t chose her name, her family did, and she didn’t chose who her family is either. The external force of family is an issue in real life just as it is in this novel, and the teens learn to either love it or hate it.
Most children experience agony and hope as they face the struggles of sibling rivalry throughout their childhood. This situation has been experienced by children, of whom may or may not have siblings, for hundreds of years. Several stories represent this crisis, including the Biblical story of Abel and Cain which was written over 3000 years ago. Abel of whom was forced to be Cain’s ash-brother. Cain had developed an intense feeling of jealousy of Abel when his offering to the Lord was rejected while Abel’s was accepted. This caused him great agony, but he wasn’t the only one. The fairytale “Cinderella” encompasses the ideas of sibling rivalry as well as the agonies and hopes that correspond with it.
Minou, Cyrus’ Mother, describes the death of her Father as a deep stab, like a bullet in the heart that pierces the body deeply. The deaths of my Sister, of my Mother and my Father were like Minou’s Father’s death, deep, painful, sad … Then, the pain and sadness are gone. They remain a fond memory of the good things we did together.
Celie is a victim of mistreatment and isolation in a world that considers women inferior to men. To instill fear and obedience in women, men conduct themselves in a hostile manner towards women. They manage women similar to slaves and sexually dominate them. When Celie is barely fourteen her stepfather, causing her to become pregnant twice, violates her multiple times. In a letter to God, Celie writes “I cry. He start to choke me, saying You better shut up and git used to it” (Walker 11). Intended merely to satisfy Pa, Celie...
Since Sister was affected the most by certain actions of the family, Welty narrated this short story through Sister’s point of view to show how the function of the family declined through these actions. Sister was greatly affected when her sister broke the bonds of sisterhood by stealing her boyfriend and marrying him. Secondly, Sister was affected by the favoritism shown by her family towards her younger sister. Since her sister was favored more than her, this caused her to be jealous of her sister. For example, Sister shows a lot of jealousy by the tone she uses when describing what Stella-Rondo did with the bracelet that their grandfather gave her. Sister’s description was, “She’d always had anything in the world she wanted and then she’d throw it away. Papa-Daddy gave her this gorgeous Add-a-Pearl necklace when sh...
In the short story “Eveline “ by James Joyce, Eveline, the protagonist is given the opportunity to escape from her hard unendurable life at home and live a life of true happiness at Buenos Ayres with Frank, her lover. Throughout the story, Eveline is faced with a few good memories of her past from her childhood and her mother, but she also faces the horrible flashbacks of her mother’s illness and her father’s violence. In the end, she does not leave with Frank, Eveline’s indecisiveness and the burden of her family’s duties makes her stay.