Mrs. Turner's Lawn Jockeys Summary

Patricia Stapor
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The authors in “Proper Library” and in “Mrs. Turner’s Lawn Jockeys”, both use the empathy of the child archetype to boost the protagonist’s confidence, giving them security. They argue that children are judgment free and have unconditional love, until exposed to bias.

In “Proper Library” the children give Lorrie unconditional love throughout the story, giving him a sense of security. With this positive reinforcement, Lorrie can be himself, and not have to worry about the children being judgmental towards him. Ferrel states, “Sheniqua is playing the doctor and trying to fix up Shawn, who always has to have a knee operation when she is the doctor. They come into the kitchen to hug my legs and

then go back in the living room.” (Ferrel 17). As soon as Lorrie gets back from school, the kids at home come running up to him, begin to hug him, latch onto his legs, not wanting to let go. This shows unconditional love. how they do not care what his sexual preference is or what kind of math he is taking. Once the children know that Lorrie is home, they drop everything they have and go running straight to him. They want to sit on his lap, they want him to teach them math and tell them stories. They don’t judge him, and instead love him for who he is. Lorrie’s on-and-off lover criticizes him for his actions, unlike the children who don’t.

In “Mrs.

Turner’s Lawn Jockeys”, Emma has a sense to protect her brother, since he cannot do that for himself. By this she thinks that protecting Bernie will make his everyday life easier. During dinner, Emma asks, ‘’’Does anyone want to hear my new word? It’s a noun.’ She’s chewing on the end of her braid.” (Raboteau 4). Emma tries to distract her father so he doesn’t get upset with Bernie, so she attempts to change the subject. She has a sense of protectiveness for her brother, and she believes like she has to protect him. Emma does this because she doesn’t want Bernie to get in trouble for something that her father wants. The author uses foreshadowing to show that Emma is nervous and anxious when her father questions Bernie. That is why she chews on her braid. Knowing that her father will get upset with Bernie, she chooses to try and distract him. This shows that Emma is protective towards her

brother.

The kids in “Proper Library” give Lorrie the attention that he seeks from Rakeem.

This leads to why he always comes back to them. The children don’t want Lorrie to leave them when he goes to school and the mother has to distract the children so the children won’t cause a scene. But when he does leave, the children cry and try to get onto Lorrie’s lap. They provide him with affectionate love. Lorrie states,“The kids are almost as sad as Ma when I get ready to go to school in the morning. They cry and whine and carry on and ask me if they can sit on my lap just one more time before I go” (Ferrel 2-3). Ferrel demonstrates a needy tone to show that the children use Lorrie’s attention to be happy. They are at a happy place whenever they are with him. The children in “Proper Library” use definite love to show Lorrie that they love him for himself. Similarly, Emma in “Mrs. Turner’s Lawn Jockeys” uses unconditional love to show her brother Bernie, that she loves him with or without a disability. Emma questions her brother at first, but due to her love for him, she accepts his different ways. She tags along with Bernie for his adventures, and does not see his disability as a challenge, and loves him even though he has a problem with learning. During Bernie’s adventure, Emma asks ‘“Who are you talking to, Bernie?’ ‘The lawn jockeys.’ ‘Oh. You’re going to paint them white?’ I nod my head…. Her eyes look real bright and pretty with her face all black like that” (Raboteau 7). The author

displays a needy tone to show Emma’s curiosity when she asks what Bernie’s doing and why he is doing it. But later on, she accepts what her brother is doing and doesn’t question it.