Preview

Misconceptions In Roberta's Children

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
157 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Misconceptions In Roberta's Children
Once Mrs. Itkin leaves Roberta asks Twyla if her mother is also sick. Twyla says that her mother just likes to “dance all night” (Morrison 1). When both of their mothers come to visit, Twyla’s mother tries to shake Roberta’s mother’s hand. Roberta’s mother just looks down on both of them, grabs Roberta and walks away (Morrison 5). Roberta’s mother may have realized that Twyla’s mother is a dancer and thinks lowly of her. Roberta’s mother may have noticed Twyla’s mother’s apparel. Twyla’s mother is wearing her green slacks which are extremely inappropriate for church. Twyla’s mother also has a rambunctious attitude which also gives away that she is a stripper that Roberta’s mother notices. She knows that she is of a higher class than Twyla’s

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    This picture demonstrates the theme of the reality of housewives in Goodbye, Columbus. In the story we are presented with two different housewives. One, Neil's aunt, and two, Brendas mother. Neil's aunt is the typical housewife who does all the cleaning and cooking. She even goes as far as making a different meal for every single person in her family. Brenda's mother, unlike Neil's aunt is not a typical house wife. She has the luxary of having a maid who does everything for her. Even though she does not do the work herself she does seem to understand how difficult it is. When arguing with Brenda she mentions that Brenda should try doing her own chores and buying her own things instead of being spoiled. Both woman understand how difficult being…

    • 204 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Lately, 5-year-old Liam has been acting strangely. He clings to his mother and expresses jealous feelings towards his father, almost as if his father is a rival for his mother's love. Freud would suggest that Liam is experiencing:…

    • 880 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jeannie Hardy Biography

    • 1012 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Johnson. One day, the daughter went home with a letter for her mother from Harper Valley School. The note said that the school disapproved of Mrs. Johnson’s habit of wearing short skirts, her practice of casual sex and of her alcohol-drinking. Later that afternoon, during the Harper Valley PTA meeting, Mrs. Johnson appeared in her miniskirt. Instead of being ridiculed, she turned the tables on them and exposed the people of their hypocrisy. What was notable and quotable in that song was the last line, “the day my momma socked it to the Harper Valley PTA.”…

    • 1012 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Twyla's mother Mary is dressed inappropriately; Roberta's mother, wearing an enormous cross on her even more enormous chest. Mary offers her hand, but Roberta's mother refuses to shake Mary's hand. Twyla experiences twin humiliations: her mother's inappropriate behavior shames her, and she feels slighted by Roberta's mother's refusal.…

    • 788 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the novel “A Pair of Silk Stockings” Mrs. Sommers splurges a little bit even though it goes against all the responsibilities she has as a mother and wife, she does something for herself. In “A Wagner Matinee” Aunt Georgiana has gotten into the habit, the same as Mrs. Sommers, of just being a wife and a mother. The story shows a time when Georgiana was able to be herself before she had kids and gained responsibility for them, a time where she loved music and to create music. She is able to relive that in the story because of her nephew and what he did for her by taking her to the musical even if it seemed she wasn’t interested.…

    • 305 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The view or reference is significant because initially it was seen to Twyla as a place where the “Big Girls” hung out listening to music and dancing a place that from the onset gave the appearance of being a happy place. It also served as the place where Twyla and Roberta established themselves as allies so to speak against the Big Girls, coming up with names for the big girls that would hurl words back at the older girls when they were being chased by them. Conversely, it was also a place where to friends would unknowingly begin to grow apart due to differences in perception of the incident involving Maggie in the orchard.…

    • 344 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The narrator’s descriptions of Mrs. Margolin represented her as a very dull, and trusting woman who is easily fooled and not strict. Mrs. Margolin is so immersed in her biblical acronyms that she believes that her troop members are all good girls, allowing for girls like Arnetta to easily fool Mrs. Margolin. This is shown as the narrator states “Arnetta always made a point of listening to Mrs. Margolin’s religious talk and giving her what she wanted to hear”(39) Furthermore, Mrs. Hedy, Octavia’s mother is the chaperone of the Troop, however it is shown as that she rarely cares as she has unchecked marital problems with her husband. The narrator states that “When Octavia’s mother wasn’t giving bored, parochial orders, she sniffled continuously, mourning an imminent divorce from her husband”(44). According to umaine.edu, Respect is a two Way Street in which both participants, the adult and child, must actively participate to get any respect from each other. This is exactly what isn’t happening with Mrs. Hedy and Mrs. Margolin and her troop. Since the children no longer fear their adults, nor had any respect for them, it was easy for the troop members to dismiss their authority, and blatantly lie and deceive them. This lack of respect given by the group of girls, coupled with the ignorance of adults fosters the growth of racism within the troop, as the group easily lies to the adults about their whereabouts, like when Arnetta states, “I handled them… I told her we was going to gather leaves”(42). These girls are also further shaped by the society they happen to live in. The narrator Snot states that “When you live in the south suburbs of Atlanta, it was easy to forget about whites. Whites were like those baby pigeons: real and existing, but rarely seen or thought about”(40). They never really had that much interaction with…

    • 1309 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Stroytime: claire, is definetally the rock. She counteracts phil with logical thinking and common sense and also a sense of housekeeping comeptence which rivals Martha Stewart. The three children are out of this sappy silliness. The three children are: Alex, haley and luke. Alex is the nerd who manipulates others without effort. Haley is the flaky bag of pre adult hormones: and then there is luke, a socially retarted version of Phil. Phil, the dad of the three, is socially awkward, wacky andis as sweet as a card of hallmark.…

    • 94 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The quilts are pieces of living history, documents in fabric that chronicle the lives of the various generations and the trials that they faced. “These are all pieces of dresses Grandma used to wear.” (Walker 9) “Some of the pieces, like the lavender ones, come from old clothes her mother handed down to her,” (Walker 9) The quilts serve as a testament to a family’s history of pride and struggle. With the limitations that poverty and lack of education placed on her life, Mama considers her personal history one of her few treasures. She mentions that "After second grade the school was closed down." (Walker 3) and because of this she is not educated and cannot…

    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Everyday Use Analysis

    • 392 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Mama had finally realized she had to stand up to Dee. From all of the built up attitude that Dee had given her mother and sister it finally hit Mama. When Maggie was so willing to let her sister have the quilts it showed Mama it was time for a change. “when I looked at her like that something hit me in the top of my head and ran down to the soles of my feet” (166). “I did something I never had done before: hugged Maggie to me, then dragged her on into the room, snatched the quilts out of miss Wangero’s hands and dumped them into Maggie’s lap” (166).…

    • 392 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mama describes herself by saying, “In real life I am a large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands.” She is a hard working woman taking care of both her daughters. She was not well educated. Mama explains her educational background saying, “I never had an education myself. After second grade the school was closed down. Don’t ask me why: in 1927 colored asked fewer questions than they do now.” Mama did not have the privilege to an education like Dee because of racial differences in the past. She also knows the true meaning of her heritage and would not allow Dee to take the quilts. Mama understands that her heritage is not dead and is forever living and asks her daughter, “What would you do with them?” Mama knew that Dee would treat the quilts as if it was something to preserve. Mama describes Maggie’s shyness and lack of confidence by stating, “Have you ever seen a lame animal, perhaps a dog run over by some careless person rich enough to own a car, sidle up to someone who is ignorant enough to be kind to him? That is the way my Maggie walks. She has been like this, chin on chest, eyes on ground, feet in shuffle, ever since the fire that burned the other house to the ground.” The house fire has impacted Maggie’s life tremendously compared to her sister Dee. She is kind- hearted and is usually over looked as described…

    • 1150 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Outline Recitatif

    • 264 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Explanation: The narrator, Twyla, is ashamed of her mother who is obviously a stripper and Roberta’s mother is suffering from mental disorders.…

    • 264 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Elisabeth Donnelly’s short story “Watching ‘Mad Men’ With My Mother” reminds us that it is important to remember our history because hard won battles are easily forgotten by the next generation. The story begins with the daughter, Elisabeth, telling us in an almost incredulous voice, that despite all of its popularity and critical acclaim, her mother refused to conform and watch “Mad Men”. When they go shopping and Elisabeth praises a dress from the trendy “Mad Men” collection at Banana Republic, she is shocked by her mother’s reaction when she says, “Why would you want to go through that again? I really like wearing pants”.…

    • 531 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the short story “Thank You M’am”, by Langston Hughs, the main protagonist, Mrs. Jones, presents herself as an agressive woman, but as the story progresses, she is revealed as a motherly figure. When Roger “[tries] to snatch [her] purse” and she “[kicks] [him]”(1), she gives off an assertive and scary vibe. Mrs. Jones doesn’t want Roger to be let off easy so she exerts her strength on him. She realizes that she needs to teach Roger a lesson and better morals. However, when she “[drags] the boy inside […] and into a large kitchenette-furnished room”(2) and tells him to “go to that sink and wash [his] face”(2), Mrs. Jones shows a more maternal side. Her maternal insticts start to shine through her forceful personality when she learns Roger…

    • 193 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Easy Rider

    • 486 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the short story "Roman Fever," the characters Mrs. Ansley and Mrs. Slade are two wealthy widows that are reflecting on their lives together. We see that they are people of a high social standing. They talk about their pampered lifestyles and plan for their daughters futures. These woman would…

    • 486 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays