After her father got killed, fifteen-year-old Hattie and her family flee Georgia to Philadelphia for a better life. Thrilled but naive, Hattie is full of optimism. However, when hopefulness turns into pains, she could not hide her anger from her family.
She holds back the close emotional connections that her children and husband crave. Instead, she prepares her children for life's disappointments and hardships, for which she has never expected.
"The Twelve Tribes of Hattie" refers to her nine living children, her twins who died from pneumonia, and her grand-daughter, Sala. The author, Ayana Mathis, touches on the effect of Hattie's emotional turmoils have on her children.
The author portrays the main character, Hattie, - a heroine for
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That decision continues to haunt her, and afraid of losing her brother, she becomes overprotective of him.
Alice has everything, a husband who is a doctor and a big house, but she never feels fulfilled because her in-laws see her as unacceptable for their son.
Her daughter, Cassie, struggles with mental health issues and her daughter, Sala, struggles with siding with her mom and her grandparents, for example, when her mom destroyed her grandmother's backyard.
At a young age, she could not understand her mom’s illness. When Cassie got worse, Hattie puts her in a mental institute.
Whether Hattie is a heroine or a villain, her courage is undeniable. Eventually, she accepts her fate.
Her husband, a reborn Christian, found peace in the church.
However, Hattie wished it would be better for her children. Although some of her children are doing well financially, they suffer emotionally, and she realizes they also have to through their misery.
Hattie’s heart softened. She gets a second chance, with raising her granddaughter, to show her love and share the wisdom that she never passed on to her children to prevent them from going through the same suffering. Perhaps, another generation gets saved from life's
Shady characters permeate this film, but they can be easily forgotten under the thick melodrama that sweeps you into the storyline. Perhaps the most disturbing character to me was Dr. Tower. I mean, really, who is this guy? From the beginning I could detect a kind of strange dynamic between Cassie and her father. After she and Parris swim together as children, she says that if her father finds out she's been swimming with Parris, he would "take a switch" to her. At first I thought maybe he was strict about her coming straight home from school or something, but as soon as I heard about the mother staying in the home all of the time, it became more clear. Cassie's mother was not insane or ill but a victim of a possessive man.
After five years of being raised and living with their grandmother whom they truly loved, the girls had a rude awakening. Their grandmother, Sylvia had passed away. “When after almost five years, my grandmother one winter morning eschewed awakening, Lily and Nona were fetched from Spokane and took up housekeeping in Fingerbone, just as my grandmother had wished” (Robinson 29). This was the final attempt that their grandmother had made in order for the girls to have a normal and traditional life. This is a solid example of how the sister’s lives are shaped by their family and their surroundings. Lucille’s ultimate concern in life is to conform to society and live a traditional life. She wishes to have a normal family and is sorrowful for all of the losses that she has experienced such as her mother’s and grandmother’s deaths. On the other hand, Ruthie, after spending more time with her future guardian, Aunt Sylvie, becomes quite the transient like her.
The major characters in the story up to and including the protagonist in the story are individuals who are relatively ill behaved and considered as being outcasts not worthy being part of the whole society. The case is however totally different when these key characters are faced by an aspect or a feature that threatens them, “The Duchess, more cheerful than she had been, assumed the care of Piney. Only Mother Shipton--once the strongest of the party--seemed to sicken and fade”. The kind treatment that these characters show towards the two people who approach them illustrate the kindness in them. An important and characteristic aspect of the characters is their ability to live with each other tolerably and encourage each other irrespective of the intensity of the challenges that they are faced with. The death of the characters is noble and illustrates or indicates a great deal of courage in them (Harte, Olivier, & Clark,
The symbols on her coat of arms are a blue two-headed eagle, a golden serpent, a silver fox, and a green ram. The two-headed eagle represents a protector. If one had to describe Cassie in a word, this would surely be it. This is because Cassie was always the responsible one. She got good grades, and had a job to support herself and Becca. She constantly protected Becca from poverty, as well as convincing her not to do irrational activities. On the coat of arms, blue means obedience, loyalty, and honesty. Cassie always followed the rules, was loyal to the leader of the cell, and was the top of the class until Becca went missing. The serpent represents wisdom, knowledge, and defiance. As I stated before, Cassie was very smart, hence the knowledge and wisdom part. However, as soon as Becca went missing and no one would listen to her, Cassie became defiant. She became an Outsider, trying to figure out what lay beyond her cell. Gold symbolizes (once again) wisdom, along with generosity and an open mind when it comes to learning. Cassie was very generous, as she sacrificed her time to make sure Becca could get food, and she was also very open about accepting the facts that the government hid. A fox stands for a person who use their knowledge and wit to defend themselves. When Cassie goes looking for Becca, she eventually reaches the prison, and becomes a prisoner herself. However, she uses her knowledge to find a
She said the pain of separation was enormous when her children were young. Her adult children, who were interviewed agreed that it was painful during that time. But, as they became older they gained more insights and understood their mother’s commitment. This part of her life impacted me on a personal level, for I am a mother of two young teenage boys, I am an activist and a full-time college student with the hopes of becoming an attorney and to continue to make a difference in my community. Witnessing her passion and how she dealt with the personal struggles provided me with a much-needed boost to stay focus on my
Fulfilling the roles of both mother and breadwinner creates an assortment of reactions for the narrator. In the poem’s opening lines, she commences her day in the harried role as a mother, and with “too much to do,” (2) expresses her struggle with balancing priorities. After saying goodbye to her children she rushes out the door, transitioning from both, one role to the next, as well as, one emotion to another. As the day continues, when reflecting on
...the novel Mrs. Ross and Robert are both left blind representing a physical embodiment of their discontent with the world. The tragic misfortunes they have witnessed throughout the novel culminated into an overwhelming darkness they have welcomed. Timothy Findley teaches the reader through Mrs. Ross, that the repercussions of the death of just one person, like Monty Miles, can traumatize a person forever. Mrs. Ross further emphasizes the holistic effect of war, especially on the families watching the doors for their sons return. Hence, Mrs. Ross’s relationship with her son throughout the course of the book, teaches us what it means to truly appreciate life. We sometimes look at war with a scope that does not allow us to comprehend what the loss of life truly means. However, in this novel we learn that life is truly sacred, especially in the eyes of a loving mother.
The story follows three girls- Jeanette, the oldest in the pack, Claudette, the narrator and middle child, and the youngest, Mirabella- as they go through the various stages of becoming civilized people. Each girl is an example of the different reactions to being placed in an unfamiliar environment and retrained. Jeanette adapts quickly, becoming the first in the pack to assimilate to the new way of life. She accepts her education and rejects her previous life with few relapses. Claudette understands the education being presented to her but resists adapting fully, her hatred turning into apathy as she quietly accepts her fate. Mirabella either does not comprehend her education, or fully ignores it, as she continually breaks the rules and boundaries set around her, eventually resulting in her removal from the school.
It led her to reflect on how she was living her life, and reminded her of the aspirations she had coming to New York. In the months that followed, she was uneasy, Jeanette couldn’t seem to accept the passing of her father. “ I found myself always wanting to be somewhere other than where I was. It took me a while to realize that just being on the move wasn’t enough : that I needed to reconsider everything” (280). Her father meant so much to her, now that he was gone she was loss and did not know how to move on. As a result, Jeanette realized that life on Park Avenue was not for her and decided to leave her husband, Eric. She carefully planned out her actions and reconsidered all aspects of her life. “ He was a good man, but not the right one for me. And Park Avenue was not where I belonged ” ( 281). Her relationship with Eric was good, she had a stable job and lived in a beautiful apartment on Park Avenue. However, when her Dad had passed, she became more self-aware and began making major decisions regarding her lifestyle. As time went by, Jeanette met her new husband, John. They invited the whole family for a Thanksgiving dinner at their new home. It had been five years since the death of Dad and she was now able to move on and find a closure for herself. She was strong enough to see her family which deeply reminded her of Dad. In contrast, Jeanette was now able to think of Dad in happiness. “We raised our glasses. I could almost hear Dad chuckling at Mom’s comment in the way I always did when he was truly enjoying something” (288). At dinner with all her family, she expresses her memories of her Dad in happiness, in which demonstrates her transition from grief to acceptance. Jeanette’s journey to accepting the passing of her father guided her through major changes in her life and sparked her to realise that the way she living was not right for
She refers her experiences to her family and how it impacts her as a whole throughout her childhood and the decisions she makes within her family’s life. A key part to pay attention to was the way she goes into detail about her experiences and how she related to them with her everyday life circumstances whether it related to her dad, her mom or her two little sisters. There are many things that are vital to our own happiness which comes from those around you and the impacts that build your wellbeing upon what you experience throughout your lifetime. She wants to impact her children’s life in a way were there able to experience the natural beauty of life and the nature that surrounds
Nanny has learned the lesson that love is not synonymous with love, and she thinks Janie is just too young to realize the truth. As a slave near the end of the Civil War, Nanny gave birth to her white master's child, who became Janie's mother. But the white man disappointed Nanny when the his wife realized the baby is her husband's, his wife went into a jealous rage; she declared that Nanny would receive a hundred lashes in the morning and watch her baby sold off when it is a month old, but he didn't do anything for Nanny and his own child, and Nanny had to escape with her baby eventually. This painful heartbreaking experience has taught Nanny a harsh lesson that love cannot always be trusted; more than that, love cannot play a only part in marriage. Unlike her young granddaughter Janie who is youthful and only sees the reason to marry is if is true love. ¡§the inaudible voice of it all came to her.
First of all, as the story began we met Maggie, a shy girl who lived her life in the darkness of her sister Dee’s shadow. Their mother was hardworking and spent her days on the farm working to offer a better life for her daughters. Raising children alone is a backbreaking task. Although they lived a modest life her children never went without. She gave them a home and food to eat, everything from killing hogs to breaking ice was done for her children. There lies the dedication seen in a good parent.
Lettie Lang is a poor black woman who has been a maid most of her adult life. She is married to an alcoholic who has never held a steady job. Her home is busting at the seams because her children, grandchildren, and mother are all living in Lettie’s small dwelling. Lettie is devastated when she learns of Hubbard’s suicide, because once again she finds herself unemployed. Little does she ...
The most winning thing that ever brought sunshine into a desolate house: a real beauty in face, with the Earnshaws' handsome dark eyes, but the Lintons' fair skin and small features, and yellow curling hair. Her spirit was high, though not rough, and qualified by a heart sensitive and lively to excess in its affections. That capacity for intense attachments reminded me of her mother: still she did not resemble her: for she could be soft and mild as a dove, and she had a gentle voice and pensive expression: her anger was never furious; her love never fierce: it was deep and tender. However, it must be acknowledged, she had faults to foil her gifts. A propensity to be saucy was one; and a perverse will, that indulged children invariably acquire, whether they be good tempered or cross … Fortunately, curiosity and a quick intellect made her an apt scholar: she learned rapidly and eagerly, and did honour to his teaching.
While Eva is an unyielding force of nature, Morrison shows the reader how Eva’s dealings with poverty and marital troubles lead to her hard natured approach to being a mother. “Hating BoyBoy, she could get on with it, and have the safety, the thrill, the consistency of that hatred as long as she wanted or needed it to define and strengthen her or protect her from routine vulnerabilities” (Morrison 36). The hatred that Eva held for her ex-husband and the circumstances that stem from their marriage and his leaving allows the reader to understand the place from which Eva pulled her determination and seemingly callus nature. With the use of the phrase “routine vulnerabilities”, the reader is forced to acknowledge the susceptibility to heartache with which every mother must grapple. Eva uses her hatred to shield herself from becoming weakened by such heartache to ensure that her children receive the care that they need to survive. She also exercises the rigid control of her emotions to force a semblance of ascendancy over her life that is otherwise controlled by physical need and her fears for the safety and livelihood of her