Mama Day By Gloria Naylor Essay

Gloria Naylor writes of a community that is endowed with southern traditions and values that makes it hard to believe that she was born in New York and attended colleges in the North, Brooklyn College and Yale University, without mention of any southern connection when she wrote the novel Mama Day in 1993. The fluency of her pen gives a voice in southern literature through her love of land for Willow Springs, violence and turmoil in history of descendants, and race relationships throughout the community. A brilliantly written story of a distinctively feminine nature, Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, 1985, p. 342), who is the matriarch of Willow Springs for its people and the survivor of an uncharted community that holds claim to a
“And if this ain’t beautifully, child nothing is (p.115)” with respect to knowing her responsibilities in the community. She claims many professions and is of importance to many people, especially her own family. She gives advice to her only niece, Cocoa; childless to her own infertility of life, about home and wisdom that is metaphorically interprets life’s lessons in living and values and comfort that only home can offer no matter how far you travel away, “ Home. It’s being new and old all rolled into one. Measuring your new against the old friends, old ways, old places. Knowing that as long as the old survives, you can keep changing as much as you want without the nightmare of waking up to a total stranger (p.49).” Mama Day speaks a native tongue rich in wisdom that gives authority to the tongue.

Secondly, Mama Day is the culture of Willow Springs and she maintain traditions and yearly celebrations among the community that willingly brings the community to share the uniqueness that the town offers through remembrance and celebration of Candle Walk, “ Candle Walk night. Looking over here from beyond the bridge, you might believe some of the more far-fetched stories about Willow Springs: The island got spit out from the mouth of God, and when it fell to the earth it brought along an army of stars (p.110).”