Nothing Must Spoil This Visit by Shauna Singh Baldwin and Everyday Use by Alice Walker
In “Nothing Must Spoil This Visit” by Shauna Singh Baldwin and “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, two pairs of sisters are you’re average loveable sisters. Sisters can be blood related or by marriage. “Is solace anywhere more comforting than in the arms of a sister?” Many sisters do feel this way about each other. However, Chaya and Janet in "nothing must spoil this visit, who are sister in laws, but are not the best of friends. In “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker; Dee and Maggie are blood related sisters, but don’t really have a loving relationship that sisters would have.
Chaya and Janet seem to have a hostile relationship towards the end of “Nothing Must Spoil This Visit”.
In “Nothing Must Spoil This Visit,” the author tells a story of bi-racial marriage. Janet is the woman married to the man Chaya has loved for so many years. This is why Chaya does not like Janet. She feels that Janet stole the love of her life. Chaya envied everything about Janet:
“She had first held Arvind close and then scanned Janet with a curiosity that took in her travel-crumpled jeans, clear-plastic-rimmed spectacles and the remnant of a perm in her brown hair.”(108) Janet sees how “Chaya still held Arvind's arm.”(108)
It was as if Chaya was trying to get reacquainted with the body of someone she once lost a long time ago. One would think that Chaya reminisces in what she could have had a long time ago. Even his own brother can’t see what Arvind sees in this foreigner:
What did Arvind see in Janet? A woman who appeared not to need a man. These foreign women, though, they talk their heads off against male chauvinism, but they really like it, they like surrendering to a real man. Look at their movies --- full of gaunt red-lipped women thrusting their come-hither pelvises at every eye. No sweetness, no kindness, no softness. Unbroken fillies. (117)
Why would Arvind love this “white woman” so much with all these flaws she has to herself? At a later point in the story Janet is with Arvind in his grandfather’s house sees a picture of Chaya and Arvind: “And a later one in colour, Arvind looking about twenty-five and Chaya in a sari, smiling at him, smiling an adoring smile.
As this occurs, the story takes on a comedic aspect from the view of the reader, and we lose our sympathy for Sister. Sister lives in China Grove, Mississippi, presumably a very small town with only a few occupants. She lives with her mother, grandfather and uncle in their home, being the center of attention for the duration of the time until her younger sister, Stella-Rondo returns home. The return of Stella-Rondo sparks a conflict with Sister immediately because Sister is obviously envious of her and has been even before she came back to China Grove. The reader gets clear evidence of Sister’s jealousy toward Stella-Rondo when Sister says “She’s always had anything in the world she wanted and then she’d throw it away.
The book Revealing the Invisible was written by Sherry Marx, a formal teacher, who went in-depth to explore the racist beliefs of white female teacher education students. The book began with Marx talking about pre service teachers that focused on English-language learning school children (ELLs). During this course she discovered just how low the expectations her students had for ELLs students. Throughout her interviews she will explore more beliefs of white females and their thoughts about race, racism, whiteness, and the children they tutored.
In "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker, Walker shows differences in human character, just by the way they act towards family members. The main character in the story, Mother, has two daughters that she treats very differently, and they treat her differently. One daughter looks down on Mother in a condescending manner, and the other is obedient and kind. In "Everyday Use", Walker shows that in relationships between a mother and daughters, adaptation to change can sometimes be very hard, which leads to pride and protecting what one has accomplished, and finally shows how un-appreciation can hinder these relationships.
The idea of heritage is very different from one person to another. The story of “Everyday Use” shows a dynamic picture of two sisters that see their family history and upbringing nearly opposite points of view. The quilts become the catalyst for a cultural battle between Dee’s (Wangero) new “enlightened” lifestyle and Maggie’s contentment with her upbringing.
Point of view is described as the perspective from which a story is told (Literature, G25). In the story "Everyday Use" the point of view is that of first person narrator or major character. The story is told by the mother in the story. The theme of this story is that of a mother who is trying to cope with changing times and two daughters who are completely different. Having the story told from momma's point of view helps to reveal how momma feels about herself and how she defines her daughters Dee and Maggie.
In the story 'Everyday Use', by Alice Walker, the value of ones culture and heritage are defined as a part of life that should not be looked upon as history but as a living existence of the past. Walker writes of the conflict between two Black cultures. Dee and Maggie are sisters whom do not share the same ideals. Mama is torn between two children with different perspectives of what life truly means. In the story, Walker describes the trial and tribulations of one daughter whose whole life is tormented by fear, failure and weakness; while the other "has held life always in the palm of one hand"(61) and moves to a better lifestyle. The possessions of the past will ultimately change the relationships of the future.
It seems that every sibling doesn’t always have a great relationship with their older or younger siblings. In the movie “Real Women Have Curves”, we have two sisters, Anna and Estella,who seem not to get along in the beginning because of their differences, but at the end they become the best of friends because they have similar dreams and learn to support each other. The advantage of Anna and Estella’s relationship is that they benefit from each other. The whole story is that you don’t always realize how much you have in common with your siblings until you realize that you have similar dreams and can be there for each other.
As the story begins, the narrator's compliance with her role as a submissive woman is easily seen. She states, "John laughs at me, but one expects that in marriage" (Gilman 577). These words clearly illustrate the male's position of power in a marriage that is not only accepted, but rather expected at this time period.... ... middle of paper ...
“Girl” was a decent short story. I’m not a big fan of the structure, however, most of the advice the mother gave was good like catching fish, setting the table for dinner, and washing clothes. The mother was very concerned regarding the girl’s future. She wanted her daughter to have basic knowledge of how to complete daily tasks for survival. I think the short story is a collection of advice the mother gave to the girl over several years. I didn’t like how it seemed as though the mother thought it were inevitable the daughter would become a slut. Although in different wording and tone, most girls will eventually have that conversation where the mother instructs them on basically becoming a woman.
...e relationship with men, as nothing but tools she can sharpen and destroy, lives through lust and an uncanny ability to blend into any social class makes her unique. Her character is proven as an unreliable narrator as she exaggerates parts of the story and tries to explain that she is in fact not guilty of being a mistress, but a person caught in a crossfire between two others.
Sister from another mister. Family does not have to be related. She stays the night once a week, he has a shelf here, and Dad calls him Son, all sentences that are about a friend that might as well be family. Although, they are already family. Family is not genetic. Family is not traced through bloodlines that simply pull out a code of just four different letters in an almost random order. A friend could be next door for years, in the cubical over, across the lab bench, or anywhere else with their comforting and welcoming smile. A friend may mean the world to someone, someone who would give their life for them. A friend that is such a great friend they are loved and trusted so much that someone just can not help but call them family. They come over for holidays, they are next to the hospital bed, and they are in a little black dress with the same tears as the genetic family. Friendship is stronger than the most durable steel that man will ever create and the bond between true friendship is just as unbreakable. A bond like that might as well be family. Family should not be limited to the same patterns in DNA but the love, trust, and care that goes into the
Author Alice Walker, displays the importance of personal identity and the significance of one’s heritage. These subjects are being addressed through the characterization of each character. In the story “Everyday Use”, the mother shows how their daughters are in completely two different worlds. One of her daughter, Maggie, is shy and jealous of her sister Dee and thought her sister had it easy with her life. She is the type that would stay around with her mother and be excluded from the outside world. Dee on the other hand, grew to be more outgoing and exposed to the real, modern world. The story shows how the two girls from different views of life co-exist and have a relationship with each other in the family. Maggie had always felt that Mama, her mother, showed more love and care to Dee over her. It is until the end of the story where we find out Mama cares more about Maggie through the quilt her mother gave to her. Showing that even though Dee is successful and have a more modern life, Maggie herself is just as successful in her own way through her love for her traditions and old w...
The tensions between them are clear, but being a sister they remind me of myself crying out for daddies attention when the other gets more, or I feel less like the favorite. Everyone wants to be the favorite. However, in greek mythology as women they will always come after and below men. I think this is the most important thing they have in common and should stick together for that
It is often the variant of a child’s up-bringing that determines their placement and views within society, the setting of time and place are a key factor in this as well. In “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, Dee, a teenage, Afroamerican girl who was born and raised in a rural country town in the southern U.S. during the 1960’s was the product of a single mother, and through the help of the church Dee was able to go to school. Demographically and geographically, Ann Copeland’s character, Honey, from “The Bear’s Paw” opposes Dee in that she was a caucasian girl raised in Connecticut amidst the 1980’s. Both raised on the forefront of the, by present day standards, pre-modern era have been dealt a primary consumer society where traditional and modern
She is seductive to the men by teasing them for money. She has power over her husband when it comes to sex: "But bed time above all is their misfortune; that is the place to scold and to importune and baulk their fun. I would never abide in bed with them if hands began to slide Till they ...