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The influence of culture and development of personality
Culture contributes to personal development of an individual
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Knowing where you come from becomes crucially important when figuring out who you are and who you want to become. In the reading, Crick Crack Monkey; the roots that run through Tee’s blood defines only where she comes from, not necessarily who she wants to become. Throughout the story, Tee struggles with accepting herself and her family’s class differences.
Tee’s time with her Aunt Tantie taught her independence and self-sufficiency, but also made her understand the true struggle that comes with living underprivileged. She lived in a rural, accommodated area, though she was educationally advanced. When Tee left to live with her Aunt Beatrice, everything flipped. As time passed, she began to feel as if where she came from, living with Aunt
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Tantie, was less than extravagant and almost a waste of her time. Through the troubles of living with loud and creole seasoned Aunt Tantie, to living with middle-classed, “pinkies up” Aunt Beatrice; Tee essentially came to know herself and who she wanted to become.
These characters can truly teach the audience many things. For example, it enlightens the reader on the outcome of your character based on how you were raised. As well as the way society will perceive you based on those characteristics. Tee being raised by Aunt Tantie showed her independence and taught her how to defend what she believes is right. Sometimes living in a lower-class environment gives you a certain amount of wisdom and a different insight on life. That is what Tee was taking away in her experience with living with Aunt Tantie. I see Tantie as being very blunt and will speak what is on her mind. She is the type of person who when speaking the truth, will be completely honest with you, curse, and not apologize for …show more content…
it. Tee stays with Ma for the holidays and she feels more comfortable and secure more than she did with either of her Aunts. Ma gave her a warm feeling about who she is and made her self-confident. Her time spent with her grandmother gives her a sense of belonging and self-worth and gave her a better outlook on her values and life. Ma taught Tee to love and acknowledge the small things in life that the average person would not take a second look at. To appreciate every breath that she can take and admire the true beauty of nature and earth. She embraces both cultures and respects them both. She feels that she can do anything and make a difference to the world as long as she sets her mind to doing so. Her happiness and comfortability is very noticeable in the reading as well. It feels as if she is where she needs to be for once and is very open and understanding to her life circumstances. On the other hand, living with Aunt Beatrice is a turnaround from living with Tantie and Ma.
Beatrice is a part of the middle-class, so it is a different way of living than with Tantie. Tee who is already struggling to figure out her identity and who she is as a person, showed the independence she was gaining from living with Tantie start to fade away. She felt as if she was being forced to act a certain way. This really made me think that she was being brain washed into thinking that certain social classes made you inferior to those in a lower class than you. She implies that the individual can gain social status by essentially “whitening the race.” No matter what social class you are born into, everyone is equal. Tee felt that being raised by Tantie and Ma and gaining all their knowledge and wisdom made her the person she is. But this also made herself question her upbringing and brings up the question, would things be different if she were always under the guardianship of Auntie Beatrice? Tee is afraid that accepting the social status of Aunt Beatrice would be disowning a place where she once felt secured and comfortable with her identity. Most of Tee’s early childhood years were spent among Aunt Tantie and Ma, and these two women become very important in analyzing Tee’s early life. Therefore, they are a huge contribution to who Tee is, and her
identity. This will become very informative in determining where Tee will see herself in the future and her contribution to her own culture and her people. Her confidence and self-esteem must increase in order to endure all the transitions going on in her life. She is relying on others to find out who she is. Being without her father and mother will make it an even harder challenge to love who she is as a person. Whereas everyone else acts as they are raised. With this being said, every moment is a teaching moment given that self-love and appreciation is prominent.
Further, throughout the book, Sadie and Bessie continuously reminds the reader of the strong influence family life had on their entire lives. Their father and mother were college educated and their father was the first black Episcopal priest and vice principal at St. Augustine Co...
The play depicts the feelings and thoughts of the people of their time. Their feelings are different then what we see today in our lives. The family had to deal with poverty and racism. Not having enough money and always being put down because of the color of their skin held them back from having a lot of self-respect and dignity. I think that Mama was the one who had the most pride and held the family together.
The short story is set in the period of The Great Depression, and lower classes especially struggled in this hard time. The Great Depression attacked the nation by society class. The lower levels struggled even more than usual. Lizbeth lived in a small rural town with a few members of her family. Her father and mother worked all day and Lizbeth and her brother, Joey, would hang out with other teenagers in their community to waste the daylight. The community always helped each other out but there was this one woman, Miss Lottie who played an important role in young Lizbeth’s
The story also focuses in on Ruth Younger the wife of Walter Lee, it shows the place she holds in the house and the position she holds to her husband. Walter looks at Ruth as though he is her superior; he only goes to her for help when he wants to sweet talk his mama into giving him the money. Mama on the other hand holds power over her son and doesn’t allow him to treat her or any women like the way he tries to with Ruth. Women in this story show progress in women equality, but when reading you can tell there isn’t much hope and support in their fight. For example Beneatha is going to college to become a doctor and she is often doubted in succeeding all due to the fact that she is black African American woman, her going to college in general was odd in most people’s eyes at the time “a waste of money” they would say, at least that’s what her brother would say. Another example where Beneatha is degraded is when she’s with her boyfriend George Murchison whom merely just looks at her as arm
Despite the connection between the girls, Twyla still feels alienated by the others in the shelter. “Nobody else wanted to play with us because we weren’t real orphans with beautiful dead parents in the sky” (10). The status of “real” versus “non-real” orphan becomes surrogate racism in the shelter. The value of this new classification of the girls is elucidated by the lack of distinct race between Twyla and Roberta, as they become united in the condition of living parents. Their race falls second to whatever else is used to alienate
Taylor, Turtle, Lou Ann, and Esperanza all develop because of their relationship with and to others. An iron is sharpened when it rubs against another piece of iron. Similarly, it is through contact and relationships that character is developed. The characters discover that they need each other to survive, just like the symbiotic relationship between the wisteria and the rhizobia. Taylor learns to depend upon the help of her friends. Turtle overcomes her emotional shock through Taylor’s love and care. Lou Ann finds her self-confidence through Taylor’s encouragement. Esperanza finds hope through her love for Turtle. All the characters learn how to be like the people in heaven. They are “well-fed” because they help and serve each other. The interaction among the characters provides nourishment and life. They develop into better people through this interaction.
Janie who continually finds her being defined by other people rather than by herself never feels loved, either by her parents or by anybody else. Her mother abandoned her shortly after giving birth to her. All she had was her grandmother, Nanny, who protected and looked after her when she was a child. But that was it. She was even unaware that she is black until, at age six, she saw a photograph of herself. Her Nanny who was enslaved most of her lifetime only told her that a woman can only be happy when she marries someone who can provide wealth, property, and security to his wife. Nanny knew nothing about love since she never experienced it. She regarded that matter as unnecessary for her as well as for Janie. And for that reason, when Janie was about to enter her womanhood in searching for that love, Nanny forced her to marry Mr. Logan Killicks, a much older man that can offer Janie the protection and security, plus a sixty-acre potato farm. Although Janie in her heart never approves what her Nanny forced her to do, she did it anyway. She convinced herself that by the time she became Mrs. Killick, she would get that love, which turned out to be wrong.
The story started off with Tia being a conservative, religious, “good-girl.” She transforms to an “independent,” young woman as she sets off to Georgia, then into a rebellious teen by the end of the story. This change starts with her personal struggle to speak in tongues like the rest of the girls her age. She feels unaccepted and judged in her church society. When confronted, Tia uses her best friend, Marcelle, to boost her esteem since she also lacks that special ability. I think Packer uses this to compare and contrast Tia’s character traits. He shows how innocent and sheltered she as well as how strongly independent she becomes at the end of the
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 mother strives for in a home. The employees at the Shelter are not “loving people,” (p. 23) but they are devoted to their job, and the boys. At a young age, Ophelia loses her mother. We learn very little about her apparently absent father. Mama Day and Abigail raise Ophelia. Abigail provides a source of comfort and love for Ophelia as she fulfills the role of mother figure. Mama day, Ophelia’s great aunt, acts more as a father figure. “If Grandma had been there, she would have held me when I broke down and cry. Mama Day only said that for a long time there would be something to bring on tears aplenty.” (p. 304). Ophelia grows up on the small island of Willow Springs. Everyone knows each other and their business, in the laid-back island community. The border between Georgia and South Carolina splits down the middle of the island. Instead of seeing any advantage to belonging to either state, the townspeople would prefer to operate independently. For George and Ophelia, the differences in their backgrounds will have a tremendous impact on many facets of their adult lives.
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).
Regretfully, though readers can see how Mama has had a difficult time in being a single mother and raising two daughters, Dee, the oldest daughter, refuses to acknowledge this. For she instead hold the misconception that heritage is simply material or rather artificial and does not lie in ones heart. However, from Mama’s narrations, readers are aware that this cultural tradition does lie within ones heart, especially those of Mama’s and Maggie’s, and that it is the pure foundation over any external definition.
Morrison uses the awkwardness of the two women’s meetings combined with the words spoken by the women to portray the confusion of race throughout the story. The first meeting was at Saint Bonaventure when they were roommates. Twyla’s mother was “always dancing” as a stripper and Roberta’s mother was a well off business woman “who was always sick” (Morrison) as Roberta would say. In the time period of the story, it would have made sense that a black mother would not have had a good paying job as a business woman. Because of this, one would think that Twyla was the black child while Roberta was the white one. Also, both girls’ mothers come to visit St. Bonny’s one day. Morrison focuses on the interaction between the grown women. Twyla’s mother, Mary, is dressed inappropriately and Roberta’s mother is dressed very well with “an enormous cross on her even more enormou...
Author Alice Walker, displays the importance of personal identity and the significance of one’s heritage. These subjects are being addressed through the characterization of each character. In the story “Everyday Use”, the mother shows how their daughters are in completely two different worlds. One of her daughter, Maggie, is shy and jealous of her sister Dee and thought her sister had it easy with her life. She is the type that would stay around with her mother and be excluded from the outside world. Dee on the other hand, grew to be more outgoing and exposed to the real, modern world. The story shows how the two girls from different views of life co-exist and have a relationship with each other in the family. Maggie had always felt that Mama, her mother, showed more love and care to Dee over her. It is until the end of the story where we find out Mama cares more about Maggie through the quilt her mother gave to her. Showing that even though Dee is successful and have a more modern life, Maggie herself is just as successful in her own way through her love for her traditions and old w...
Her parents meet at a social gathering in town and where married shortly thereafter. Marie’s name was chosen by her grandmother and mother, “because they loved to read the list was quite long with much debate over each name.” If she was a boy her name would have been Francis, so she is very happy to have born a girl. Marie’s great uncle was a physician and delivered her in the local hospital. Her mother, was a housewife, as was the norm in those days and her father ran his own business. Her mother was very close with her parents, two brothers, and two sisters. When her grandmother was diagnosed with asthma the family had to move. In those days a warm and dry climate was recommended, Arizona was the chosen state. Because her grandma could never quite leave home, KY, the family made many trips between the states. These trips back and forth dominated Marie’s childhood with her uncles and aunts being her childhood playmates.
Aubery Tanqueray, a self-made man, is a Widower at the age of Forty two with a beautiful teenage daughter, Ellean whom he seems very protective over. His deceased wife, the first Mrs. Tanqueray was "an iceberg," stiff, and assertive, alive as well as dead (13). She had ironically died of a fever "the only warmth, I believe, that ever came to that woman's body" (14). Now alone because his daughter is away at a nunnery he's found someone that can add a little life to his elite, high class existence; a little someone, we learn, that has a past that doesn't quite fit in with the rest of his friends.