Dillard's Mother In An American Childhood

In the narrative, An American Childhood, Dillard’s mother has many amiable qualities that Dillard picked up as a child. Her mother also has qualities that make Dillard ambivalent. In the story, An American Childhood, Dillard’s mother has qualities that make Dillard either amiable or ambivalent.

Over the course of the story, one of the many amiable qualities that Dillard admires is her determination. For example, Dillard calls her mom “an unstoppable force” (pg. 113) after the post office made her change her address. Dillard has a surprised attitude towards it because she commented that she did not “know how she did it”. She had an even more surprised attitude when the worker listens to her and they do that same thing. Dillard’s mothers determination

is also shown when she followed P. T. Barnum’s dictum, “You can sell anything to anyone if you market it right” when she tried to market ivory soap. Dillard’s attitude towards the soap was negative because she claimed, “soap wasn’t supposed to float”. However, she was able to sell it with her determination because an adman said to “flaunt” the fact that it flouts. (I did look into it, and ivory soap is not something the author made up, you can actually buy it in a store.)
Dillard’s mother, however, also has some unpopular opinions that influenced the author. For example, when the McCarthy hearing came on, she was sarcastic towards the major communist scandal. While her husband said “wait-and-see”, her mother, however, already knew what was going on and already knew what the US should do. This influenced her in a positive light because when Dillard was describing the situation, she used the word “fantastic” to describe her mother’s opinions. The author learned to stand up for her beliefs with situation that made her fend for herself.
Dillard’s mother taught the narrator something very important, when you belief in something; you need to stand up to it, and not back down. This is shown when the author claimed that, “Eisenhower’s going to win”. Her mother rhetorically asked, “How do you know”. The author knew that she could not say that everyone said so because her mother would ask if they “consult this Everyone before you make your decisions”. She alludes to WWII and the Jewish camps when she asks if “Everyone decided to round up all of the Jews”. Because Dillard’s mother alludes WWII, this gives Dillard an ethical dilemma because since this narrative was written in the middle to late 1900s, evident by the Popeye allusion, ivory soap invention, and the communism overtone. WWII was still in people’s mind so with her mother alluding to the concentration camps, it gave the narrator ambivalent feeling towards her mother.
As you can see, in the narrative, An American Childhood, Dillard’s mother has many amiable qualities that Dillard picked up as a child. Her mother also has qualities that make Dillard ambivalent. In the story, An American Childhood, Dillard’s mother has qualities that make Dillard either amiable or ambivalent.