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The family has always been and still is the main pillar of society. It is the place where members are born, learn, educate and develop. It must be shelter, pride and joy of all its members. When the family has problems, joys or sorrows internal, affect the whole family. Danzy Senna’s Caucasia is about the comparison between white, black and its mixtures, narrating the story of a blended family in the 70s. Birdie Lee, the protagonist, is a daughter of a black intellectual father and a white mother. Birdie is light-skinned and has a close relationship with Cole, her dark-skinned sister, with whom she invents a new language to communicate. When their parents separate, the two daughters are divided and Birdie’s world goes to pieces trying to find
her true identity. Birdie stayed with her mother because she looked more like her, in terms of skin color, while Cole stayed with her father, who was of a darker complexion like her. In Caucasia, Danzy Senna develops the idea of the home space as a foundation for the self throughout the novel, which means that a home helps to establish identity.
Conflict between the main characters in fictional stories can be so thick, you need a razor-sharp knife to cut it; that is definitely the case in the two literary texts I recently analyzed titled “Confetti Girl” by Diana Lopez and “Tortilla Sun” by Jennifer Cervantes. In the first text, tensions mount when a social butterfly of a teenage girl and her oblivious father lock horns over the subject of homework. In the second passage, drama runs high when a lonely child and her career-driven mother battle over the concept of spending the summer apart. Unfortunately, by the end of both excerpts, the relationships of these characters seem damaged beyond repair due to their differing points of view - the children end up locked behind their barrier-like
The book by Faith Ringgold entitled Faith Ringgold, explains the story of a mother and daughter during the Harlem Renaissance era in New York. According to the book, the series deals with many generational issues of a middle class black family and focuses on the drama, and tension between a mother and daughter who are profoundly different. The series represents a relationship much like the relationship between Faith Ringgold and her two daughters. The story follows a daughter named, Celia Cleopatra Price, a graduate of Howard University, who graduated first in her class. She is unable to identify with her mother, CeeCee. CeeCee had only finished the 8th grade and dropped out due to her pregnancy with Celia. CeeCee is a very creative individual and makes bags; she is married to”the dentist”, who a young CeeCee meets in the first quilt Love in the School Yard. CeeCee thinks Celia has develope...
When relating the history of her grandmother, Meema, for example, the author first depicts Meema’s sisters as “yellow” and Meema’s grandfather and his family as “white.” When the two families meet, the author has few words for their interactions, stating that their only form of recognition was “nodding at [them] as they met.” The lack of acknowledgment the narrator depicts in this scene, particularly between those of differing skin pigmentations, would indicate a racial divide permeating the society in which
The history of racial and class stratification in Los Angeles has created tension amongst and within groups of people. Southland, by Nina Revoyr, reveals how stratification influences a young Asian woman to abandon her past in order to try and fully integrate herself into society. The group divisions are presented as being personal divisions through the portrayal of a generational gap between the protagonist, Jackie, and her grandfather. Jackie speaks of her relationship with Rebecca explaining her reasons why she could never go for her. Jackie claims that “she looked Asian enough to turn Jackie off” (Revoyr, 2003, p. 105). Unlike her grandfather who had a good sense of where he came from and embraced it, Jackie rejected her racial background completely. Jackie has been detached from her past and ethnicity. This is why she could never be with Rebecca, Jackie thought of her as a “mirror she didn’t want to look into”. Rebecca was everything Jackie was tr...
One of the first relationships that McLaurin describes is the relationship between him and his friend Bobo. McLaurin struggled to deal with leaving his boyhood behind and coming into manhood in dealing with the African Americans in the town. When he was young he paid no attention to race of the children in the neighborhood. Children are often very unaware of the social issues going on around them because children are innocent and then when they start growing up they begin to become aware of what is happening. McLaurin was playing a game of basketball with the black and white children in the neighborhood and needed to air up the ball at his grandfather’s store. McLaurin and a couple of his black peers, including his friend Bobo, went to the store and McLaurin became frustrated with Bobo after he failed to air up the ball with enough air after he already put the needle in his mouth to get it into the ball. McLaurin then placed the same needle into his mouth and immediately was overcome with emotion. This ev...
In the world of literature nothing is more compelling than reading a story and feeling as though you yourself are witnessing firsthand the events and character’s struggles unfold, due to the interactive language and intricate details the author incorporates into their writing. It is through Alice Walker’s conversational style of writing, and vivid use of symbolism that she is able to give an elaborate description of the family culture gap in the story allowing the readers to explore the concept of African- American heritage. These writing techniques also play a major role in keeping the readers engaged from start to finish. This is especially evident in Walker’s short story “Everyday Use”. Walker has skillfully honed her craft and by integrating
As a child Janie’s race is something she realizes later, but is still an important part of her life. As a child Janie grew up with a white family, named the Washburns, for whom Nanny worked as a nanny for. It is not until Janie sees herself in a picture with the Washburns children that she realizes she is black, Janie recounts her realization t...
When born into this planet, there are many things you never truly learn until you grow older. You are born lost, but somehow, someway you will be found. Life is a puzzle, many people have many stories, many people have voices that share these stories, but some of those people don't have a voice, they don't tend to share this story they have of being found. Maybe because they were never found? They are still lost, and in the book Caucasia, written by Danzy Senna, it shows us a story of a girl who is lost. Birdie has a hard time, growing up because she comes from a biracial parent in the 1960’s in Boston. It was a lot about her, with her sister being black, and herself being white you are able to see that there may be favoritism from one parent
Every family has either the perfect life or the worst life through someone else’s eyes. Every day, families go through things nobody else can see. Internally, behind the closed doors nobody can see what is actually happening. Even though it may seem tough, they could be the perfect family, but the viewer does not see it that way. Families relationships are the glue of holding everything together, and bonds are created that do not break easily. Throughout these short poems in the Making Literature Matter textbook, the chapter goes deeper into relationships and legacies within families and grandparents- especially culturally. Grandparents are a major focal point within a family because they show love and affection for the grandkids and try to
Have you ever seen two sisters that are completely different in looks, thought, and what is important to them? This example can be compare to the story of Maggie and Dee in” Everyday Use” by Alice Walker. Although Maggie and Dee are sisters from the same parents and raised by the same mother in the same house who love and cherished them, they have different looks, different attitude towards family, and how they cherished the family heritage.
Leonna and Bunny in the motion picture exhibit an intimate sibling relationship, which can be described as being emotionally interdependent, psychologically involved, caring, assisting, and accepting of each other’s natures (Gold, 1989). They shared a long history of personal family experiences, and there is a parallel connection between the two (Bedford,
A main theme in this novel is the influence of family relationships in the quest for individual identity. Our family or lack thereof, as children, ultimately influences the way we feel as adults, about ourselves and about others. The effects on us mold our personalities and as a result influence our identities. This story shows us the efforts of struggling black families who transmit patterns and problems that have a negative impact on their family relationships. These patterns continue to go unresolved and are eventually inherited by their children who will also accept this way of life as this vicious circle continues.
Since Sister was affected the most by certain actions of the family, Welty narrated this short story through Sister’s point of view to show how the function of the family declined through these actions. Sister was greatly affected when her sister broke the bonds of sisterhood by stealing her boyfriend and marrying him. Secondly, Sister was affected by the favoritism shown by her family towards her younger sister. Since her sister was favored more than her, this caused her to be jealous of her sister. For example, Sister shows a lot of jealousy by the tone she uses when describing what Stella-Rondo did with the bracelet that their grandfather gave her. Sister’s description was, “She’d always had anything in the world she wanted and then she’d throw it away. Papa-Daddy gave her this gorgeous Add-a-Pearl necklace when sh...
The story of Pecola Breedlove in The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison is very dramatic. Like a seed planted in bad soil and in a hostile condition, Pecola, a very young and innocent African American girl, does not have a chance to grow up normally like her peers. Her parents' personal history is shown to have played out in extreme measures in her life. Her father, abandoned since childhood, does not have a sense of fatherhood. Her mother is a product of hatred and ignorance. The Breedlove's all are confronted by prejudice on a daily basis, both classism and racism, and for the first time, the white standard of beauty. Growing up in this environment, Pecola is vulnerable in every way and becomes the victim of discrimination by both white and black people in her community.
Celie is a poor, Southern black girl. Celie is one of the most oppressed, silenced members of society. Her stepfather told her that she "better not never tell anybody but God. It'd kill your mammy" (Walker 1). This quote takes on a new significance. This statement made by her father affects Celie’s outlook. With him saying this, she decides to tell no one about what her father did. She thinks that if her mother knew, she would be very disappointed in her. He abuses Celie and demands her silence. He rapes her many times and she even gives birth to two of his children. She does not tell anyone that the children she has given birth to are his; she says that their father disappeared. She is ashamed of what has happened and worries if the people finding out, she is fearful this will be by society. Celie's narrative is a testimony to the struggles of black women, a disadvantaged segment of a disadvantaged race. She is too afraid to share her story with other people, yet