Junot Diaz’s “Wildwood” is a roller coaster of emotions. The author gives us a full view of the tempestuous relationship between Lola and her mother who discovers has breast cancer. Lola, a young girl who lives in New York with her brother and mother, early on we can see that Lola’s mother is particularly abusive and channels her frustrations towards her daughter. When her mother asks Lola to examine her breast for a lump, she has a premonition her life would change. Lola is a typical teenager who just wants to irritate her mother. It was peculiarly
interesting to me that the more her mother got sick, the more Lola lashed out. It as if she was no longer feared her mother; she instead wanted to hurt her. Perhaps Lola took this callous approach after all the years of abuse. The author demonstrates through the change of Lola’s appearance; she dyes and shaves her hair, takes on a more “punk rock” look and these changes send her mother into a rage, She tries to force Lola to wear her wig; however, Lola sets it on fire. Although these changes were physical, I believe the author used them to show us that Lola wanted to be the opposite of what her mother wanted her to be.
As Lola’s mother’s health begins to deteriorate, which
…show more content…
They both admire her mother’s beauty. Her grandmother begins to reveal certain aspects from her mother’s past and the nagging feelings gets stronger. La Inca explains to her that she is very similar to her mother. She tells her about why she had to send her mother to New York; she also had fallen in love with the wrong man. At the end of this story, we see Lola go through this internal change. I think the author did this to show that maybe Lola couldn’t understand her mother because there were many things about her she didn’t know and that their story was so very similar. We don’t get to see anymore of the conversation; therefore, we don’t see if this revelation serves a purpose, but I would like to believe it
She is experience at first anger after finding out that Choyos husband couldn't take her Martas baby anymore. The anger then lead her to a decision she'll regret. Now she is experiencing a whole new feeling which is regret. She is having regret feelings because she has put a curse on Choyo baby. Then the regret feeling grows even more after finding out that curse she put on the baby never left even after Marta told Remedius to take off the curse from the baby. Choyo child had to go through a tough time to get rid of a disease that he had because of the curse. Then Choyo child sooner finds out that the cause of the disease was from the curse that Marta put on him. Choyos child shunned Marta after finding out which then lead to a new feeling. Which is the last feeling, sadness. Marta is sad because now she has lost the trust from her sister's child even though she is very sorry but still Choyos child is being stubborn and still take her apologies for what she
Her father left Anne and Anne’s mother when she was young for another woman. Anne’s mother was a strong independent woman that she look up to. During one summer, Anne help her mother and her step father in the plantation. The temperature was so hot, Anne decided not to become a farmer like her mother and father and wanted to get out of black poverty system (Chapter 8). When she was eighth grade, she help the school fundraised money. That was the first experience on organizing people to work together. She would start use that skill she learned later on during the political movement. Before entering the high school, one of her classmate was murdered by white lynching mob. Anne was angry at other African americans for not standing for himself and allow himself to be kill and push around. “I hated them(other African-American people) for not standing up and doing something about the murders. In fact, I think I had a stronger resentment toward Negroes for letting the whites kill them than toward the whites” (Chapter 11). Anne is really upset and she wanted the situation to change.When anne was young, she was not allow to sit with her white friends when they go to movies. Anne started to question about the racial problem. When Anne was nine, she started to work with Linda Jean. Linda’s mother was a really mean white women. She always tried to make Anne quit the job by giving her hard
La Inca is a very unselfish woman, she took care of Beli after the death and imprisonment of her parents. La inca believes that Beli deserves the best education the island can offer. She offers a safe place and support to her grandchildren Lola and Oscar. In chapter three on page 80, La Inca was not able to support herself and Beli but did what she can to support herself and Beli. Diaz states in the book, ¨Sharing a bed with her mother, the inability to buy the dresses she wanted.¨ This quote shows that La inca is in isolation from being a wealthy mother not being able to give her children what other parents can. Diaz uses the history of La Inca to show that she is in isolation from having a normal childhood as a kid. In chapter three on page 80, La inca did not have a home as a kid, she passed through rough times when she was young and she'll never forget those horrible days. Diaz states in the book, ¨Those first years of her life when she´d been an orphan, the horrible scars from that time.¨ This shows that La inca had a hard life since she was young she was not able to have a childhood because of what she went through showing she is in isolation from people who didn't have a hard life when she was
Abelard started this whole mess but the love of his family was too strong, he would rather his family broken up than together and possibly miserable. Lola’s problems with mother-daughter love stem from Abelard breaking up the family and Belicia problems with La Inca as a child. Finally Emily, she never felt the love she actually had because she was very conscious about what was going on around her, she would just form an opinion and stick with it stubbornly. Love comes in all different ways and is the clear cut reason why anger and love influence the impulsive and reckless decisions the characters make in their lives. Works Cited Diaz, Junot.
The daughter alludes to an idea that her mother was also judged harshly and made to feel ashamed. By the daughters ability to see through her mothers flaws and recognize that she was as wounded as the child was, there is sense of freedom for both when the daughter find her true self. Line such as “your nightmare of weakness,” and I learned from you to define myself through your denials,” present the idea that the mother was never able to defeat those that held her captive or she denied her chance to break free. The daughter moments of personal epiphany is a victory with the mother because it breaks a chain of self-loathing or hatred. There is pride and love for the women they truly were and is to be celebrated for mother and daughter.
Demetria Martínez’s Mother Tongue is divided into five sections and an epilogue. The first three parts of the text present Mary/ María’s, the narrator, recollection of the time when she was nineteen and met José Luis, a refuge from El Salvador, for the first time. The forth and fifth parts, chronologically, go back to her tragic experience when she was seven years old and then her trip to El Salvador with her son, the fruit of her romance with José Luis, twenty years after she met José Luis. And finally the epilogue consists a letter from José Luis to Mary/ María after her trip to El Salvador. The essay traces the development of Mother Tongue’s principal protagonists, María/ Mary. With a close reading of the text, I argue how the forth chapter, namely the domestic abuse scene, functions as a pivotal point in the Mother Tongue as it helps her to define herself.
“The Pain Tree” written by Olive Senior tells the story of a woman who comes back home after many years and begins to think about her childhood in a new light, which changes much of what she thought she knew of her family and childhood. The story shows the main character, Lorraine, revisiting the memories of her family and the woman who had taken care of her as a child, Larissa. Children mainly focus on the happy memories which may be tied to more important topics that they do not understand until they are older. Most children do not pick up on many of the complicated things happening around them. Lorraine can now see the bigger picture of her relationship with Larissa and how large the divides were between Lorraine’s family and Larissa’s
Derricotte’s conclusive paragraph begins with, “My mother helps me. She sends me signs: her African violet bloomed for the first time on my windowsill three years after her death, on the first day of her death month…I love my mother now in ways I could not have loved her when she was alive, fierce, terrifying, unpredictable, mad, shame-inducing, self-involved, relentless, and determined by any means necessary” (53). The timing of her love for her mother became insignificant. It wasn’t about when she finally reached the point of loving her mother but the mere fact that she loved her. The utilization of descriptive writing and the emotional implementation in “Beginning Dialogues” are a couple of ways Derricotte enraptures her readers in this short story. Regardless of a painful past or a traumatic childhood she allows herself to see that love truly conquers
The narrator, Twyla, begins by recalling the time she spent with her friend, Roberta, at the St. Bonaventure orphanage. From the beginning of the story, the only fact that is confirmed by the author is that Twyla and Roberta are of a different race, saying, “they looked like salt and pepper” (Morrison, 2254). They were eight-years old. In the beginning of the story, Twyla says, “My mother danced all night and Roberta’s was sick.” This line sets the tone of the story from the start. This quote begins to separate the two girls i...
Relating to Alvarez and her struggle is very easy and well known in every generation. Society puts a ridiculous high standard on outer appearances, especially for girls and women. Women grasp the perspective of the standards that are set and put them into drive. Women become stressed, emotional, and nutcases because they want to please others instead of pleasing themselves. In some cases, women have died trying to live up to these customaries, if not becoming dangerously ill. As a young lady, knowing what could happen, frightens but doesn’t phase me. Wi...
The speaker reflects on the teenage girl’s childhood as she recalls the girl played with “dolls that did pee-pee” (2). This childish description allows the speaker to explain the innocence of the little girl. As a result, the reader immediately feels connected to this cute and innocent young girl. However, the speaker’s diction evolves as the girl grew into a teenager as she proclaims: “She was healthy, tested intelligent, / possessed strong arms and back, / abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity” (7-9). The speaker applies polished language to illustrate the teen. This causes the reader not only to see the girl as an adult, but also to begin to grasp the importance of her situation. The speaker expresses what the bullies told this girl as she explains: “She was advised to play coy, / exhorted to come on hearty” (12-13). The sophisticated diction shifts towards the girl’s oppressors and their cruel demands of her. Because of this, the reader is aware of the extent of the girl’s abuse. The speaker utilizes an intriguing simile as she announces: “Her good nature wore out / like a fan belt” (15-16). The maturity of the speaker’s word choice becomes evident as she uses a simile a young reader would not understand. This keeps the mature reader focused and allows him to fully understand the somberness of this poem. The speaker concludes the poem as she depicts the teenage girl’s appearance at her funeral: “In the casket displayed on satin she lay / with the undertaker’s cosmetics painted on” (19-20). The speaker elects not to describe the dead girl in an unclear and ingenuous manner. Rather, she is very clear and
Signs of the depth of the narrator's mental illness are presented early in the story. The woman starts innocently enough with studying the patterns of the paper but soon starts to see grotesque images in it, "There is a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a...
Her family life is depicted with contradictions of order and chaos, love and animosity, conventionality and avant-garde. Although the underlying story of her father’s dark secret was troubling, it lends itself to a better understanding of the family dynamics and what was normal for her family. The author doesn’t seem to suggest that her father’s behavior was acceptable or even tolerable. However, the ending of this excerpt leaves the reader with an undeniable sense that the author felt a connection to her father even if it wasn’t one that was desirable. This is best understood with her reaction to his suicide when she states, “But his absence resonated retroactively, echoing back through all the time I knew him. Maybe it was the converse of the way amputees feel pain in a missing limb.” (pg. 399)
goes to her mother to tell her of Pedro’s intention to meet with her and ask for her
Mrs. Mallard’s repressed married life is a secret that she keeps to herself. She is not open and honest with her sister Josephine who has shown nothing but concern. This is clearly evident in the great care that her sister and husband’s friend Richard show to break the news of her husband’s tragic death as gently as they can. They think that she is so much in love with him that hearing the news of his death would aggravate her poor heart condition and lead to death. Little do they know that she did not love him dearly at all and in fact took the news in a very positive way, opening her arms to welcome a new life without her husband. This can be seen in the fact that when she storms into her room and her focus shifts drastically from that of her husband’s death to nature that is symbolic of new life and possibilities awaiting her. Her senses came to life; they come alive to the beauty in the nature. Her eyes could reach the vastness of the sky; she could smell the delicious breath of rain in the air; and ears became attentive to a song f...