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Gloria Naylor's Mama Day
In 1988 Gloria Naylor wrote the novel Mama Day in hopes to show the world that one can either accept the hand they are dealt and make it come out to the advantage of themselves and others, or one can hide from their pain and live a life scared of what may come in the future. Mama Day is set on an island off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia that is inhabited by the descendants of a slave population. The main characters in the novel; Ophelia, Abigail and Miranda, also called Mama Day, all experienced a lot of pain in their lives; it is how they chose to deal with their experiences that sets them apart from each other.
Abigail Day is an older member of the Willow Springs' community, sister to Miranda, and grandmother to Cocoa. Instead of embracing the pain Abigail experienced through out her life and turning it into something positive for herself and others, she tried to change the past, and that only left her with more pain. Abigail was the middle child of three sisters. When Peace her younger sister fell in a well, their father and mother became distant with each other and in the end her mother threw herself off a cliff because she could not deal with the pain. When talking about her mother Miranda says, “Mother hardly cooked at all. And later she didn’t eat much. Later she didn’t do nothing but sit in that rocker… Too much sorrow…much too much. And I was too young to give [her] peace. Even Abigail tried and failed”(243). When Abigail was younger her father carved wood and “Abigail, [tried] to form with flesh what her daddy couldn’t form from wood”(262). Her whole childhood was spent trying to make up for her sister’s death.
After her mother’s death, Abigail still tried to giv...
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...nted it to. Mama Day tells Bernice, “Folks say I can do things that most can’t do. Whether that’s true or not, I am willing to help you”(87). Mama Day devised a plan to help Bernice keep her body busy and her mind off of getting pregnant. All the people of Willow Springs admired the weight that Bernice put on and the strength she was developing. When these tactics did not work Mama Day promised to go to the Other Place and help Bernice in a way that Bernice would have to keep a secret forever.
Mama Day was the wisest of the three women. She realized that there had been a lot of pain in her life and her family’s history, but she took the pain and turned it into something positive for herself and those around her. She didn’t try to change it like Abigail or ignore it like Cocoa. She embraced it, and helped to change the lives of many people because of it.
...than be accused of lying and lose all the power and adulation she has fought to hold on to. As soon as Abigail realized people were beginning to suspect her integrity, however, her initial instinct was to flee. Parris, her uncle, was the first to notice this, telling the court, “My niece, sir, my niece – I believe she has vanished.” This exemplifies her selfish behavior, because instead of taking responsibility for her actions, she would rather cowardly run from her problems.
When everything seemed to be going well for the Wescott family, the author describes one of Katherine’s fit by saying, “Katherine was crying and moaning, her hands clutching her chest, and she was panting as though the Devil himself had chased her home” (GodBeer, 14) Although Abigail did not always believe she was telling the truth, and did not really trust her. Her and her husband, Daniel, wanted to get to the bottom of what was really wrong with Katherine. It was believed to be Daniel and Abigail’s moral obligation to take care of Katherine according to the church. Throughout the first chapter many of Kates fits happened, and there were countless witnesses, such as Ebenezer Bishop and other neighbors. Surprisingly as more attacks happened, Kate started calling out certain community members name and had stranger fits. These neighbors witness Kate scream, “Goody Clawson, turn head over heels…Now they’re going to kill me! They’re pinching me on my neck!” (GodBeer, 28) With many more attacks, and neighbors witnessing it firsthand the question of who was tormenting her became the
George and Ophelia, two characters in Gloria Naylor’s Mama Day, have a complex yet intimate relationship. They meet in New York where they both live. Throughout their hardships, Ophelia and George stay together and eventually get married. Ophelia often picks fights with George to test his love for her, and time after time, he proves to her that he does love her. Gloria Naylor uses George as a Christ figure in his relationship with Ophelia to eventually save her life.
One of the most important aspects of Reagan’s time in office was his domestic policy. He knew to have a successful presidency and create a strong, the people of the United States needed to be cared for. His first goal was to turn the economy around from the stagflation it encounter in the Carter era. Stagflation is very similar to inflation. The main difference is that inflation is the result of a quick economic growth while causes the value of money to decrease with now economic growth. To accomplish the turn around, Reagan introduce his economic policy which became known as Reaganomics. Reaganomics was based in supply side economics. This economic theory says that lowering taxes through tax cuts increases revenue by allowing more money
First in “Everyday Use” you recognize the differences in all three women throughout the story. The mama
In the novel All Over but the Shoutin’ Rick Bragg shows the love and devotion of what every mother should have through his mother. The only woman that Bragg truly cares for and takes time out of his day is for his mother Margaret Marie. Bragg tries to do the best for his mother and tries his best to make her proud of him. Bragg learned early in life that his mother strived to give her children everything possible. For Mrs. Bragg her children are the reason she wakes up everyday and tries to make a better life for them.
Mama Day tells the story of the descendants of a black slave woman named Sapphira Wade and is focusing primarily on their heritage and identity. I believe, the author is omitting the spouses of the slave’s descendants from the family tree, because she focuses on the ancestral belonging and cultural heritage of Sapphira’s children and grandchildren only.
Gloria Naylor, as an African American, has deep connection with her southern roots and heritage. The element from her life that has been most influential on her novels is her southern heritage. Understanding that southern life in many ways defines the African American experience, Naylor feels obligated to capture this essence in all of her works. Though she knows that every black experience is not southern or working class, she affirms the southern space as an inescapable foundation. According to her-
She anticipates that soon her daughter Maggie will be married and she will be living peacefully alone. Mama decides that she will wait in the yard for her daughter Dee's arrival. Mama knows that her other daughter, Maggie, will be nervous throughout Dee's stay, self -conscious of her scars and burn marks and jealous of Dee's much easier life. Mama fantasizes about reunion scenes on television programs in which a successful daughter embraces the parents who have made her success possible.
Ronald Reagan was a very popular person before, during, and after his time of presidency. He went from a mere radio announcer, to the head of the United States of America. Ronald had defeated most of the world’s problems with Communism, improved the economy, and handled terrorist threats like a pro. Ronald quickly took America’s heart with his honorable deeds and doings. He was very famous by the time he became deceased. (Ronald Reagan Facts.)
In Alice Walkers short story “Everyday Use,” Mama is a blissful and selfless kind of woman who would do anything to help her eldest daughter Dee succeed. When Mama realizes she has put more effort into Dee over her younger daughter Maggie, she knows it’s time to develop from this. Mama has this hope for Dee to see her for what she has done to support her. When Mama starts to notice how Dee is becoming she starts to consider giving Maggie the credit she deserves. In “Everyday Use,” Mama can be portrayed as unfair at first, but when her eyes become open to Maggie she makes a choice that will shock us all.
...nce using fear, Abigail successfully protects herself from any type of damage on her reputation by manipulating the court to believing that there is actually a spirit in the court room.
Mama, as a member of an older generation, represents the suffering that has always been a part of this world. She spent her life coexisting with the struggle in some approximation to harmony. Mama knew the futility of trying to escape the pain inherent in living, she knew about "the darkness outside," but she challenged herself to survive proudly despite it all (419). Mama took on the pain in her family in order to strengthen herself as a support for those who could not cope with their own grief. Allowing her husband to cry for his dead brother gave her a strength and purpose that would have been hard to attain outside her family sphere. She was a poor black woman in Harlem, yet she was able to give her husband permission for weakness, a gift that he feared to ask for in others. She gave him the right to a secret, personal bitterness toward the white man that he could not show to anyone else. She allowed him to survive. She marveled at his strength, and acknowledged her part in it, "But if he hadn't had...
“I am a large, big boned woman with rough, man-working hands” Mama describes of herself in the short story Everyday Use by Alice Walker. Mama, who additionally takes the role of narrator, is a lady who comes from a wealth of heritage and tough roots. She is never vain, never boastful and most certainly never selfish. She speaks only of her two daughters who she cares deeply for. She analyzes the way she has raised them and how much she has cared too much or too little for them, yet most of all how much they value their family. Mama never speaks of herself, other than one paragraph where she describes what she does. “My fat keeps me hot in zero weather. I can work outside all day, breaking ice to get water for washing” (Walker, 60). She does not need to tell readers who she is, for her descriptions of what she does and how her family interacts, denotes all the reader needs to know. Although Mama narrates this story rather bleakly, she gives readers a sense of love and sense of her inner strength to continue heritage through “Everyday Use”.
Motherhood is a traditional role for women. From the time they are young, girls are taught to grow up, marry and become mothers. Of course they can do other things with their lives like play sports, have careers, and travel, but an overwhelming amount of women want to be mothers no matter what else they accomplish with their lives. It is common knowledge that being a good mother is one of the hardest jobs in the world. It is to forever have a special link with another person or people and have a tremendous influence, maybe the most tremendous influence over their lives. Motherhood is a roller coaster ride for women, full of ups and downs, fears and accomplishments. But what happens when motherhood defines who a woman is? All children grow up, and while a woman is always a mother, children need their mothers less and less until eventually their dependence is very minimal. What happens to the woman whose singular role and purpose is no longer needed? In The Summer Before The Dark, and The Fifth Child, the maternal roles of Kate Brown, and Harriet Lovatt are analyzed and traditional motherhood behavior is deconstructed due to these characters’ experiences and relationships with their children.