Zenzele Sparknotes

The story of Zenzele: A Letter to My Daughter by J. Nozipo Maraire along with The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros and Motherland by Vineeta Vijayaraghavan all encompass the idea of freedom, a liberated country, an escape from a neighborhood weighing down. The idea of freedom fosters a home for creation and exploration, opening up a world of possibilities full of balance between self-care and community. Motherland by Vineeta Vijayaraghavan shows this idea through Maya's journey of self discovery. Learning how to mold an identity balance between her two cultures.

By employing the symbol of the maps, Vijayaraghavan argues that in order to balance the connection between home and self-care, one must be able to guide themselves on the journey
At the end of the book Maya receives maps from one of her servants, Sunil, hidden away after the agents had taken everything from their home, made by Ammamma before her passing. Although Sanjay's uncle said that there weren't maps of the physical world of the homes in the hills, Maya had figured “there were maps for the inside, maps of the heart, and they could only be drawn by those who loved you.” Learning ammamma had gifted these to her in order to contribute to her growth by paving the road for her future even after passing away. Maya had obtained the knowledge that “With what ammamma had given me, I had a suspicion that I, too, could surpass geography. I could live anywhere, grafted and take root anywhere, and anywhere could become home.”
Towards the end of the story, we start to understand how Nye and the other passengers created a sense of home somewhere so unexpected. “She had pulled a sack of homemade mamool cookies—little powdered sugar crumbly mounds stuffed with dates and nuts—from her bag—and was offering them to all the women at the gate. To my amazement, not a single woman declined one” (Nye). Even though they were all from different places, they all had one thing in common, which helped them to become a family in some way. For as long as I can remember, cookies have been something that is perfect any time, whether it's a late night snack or just comfort food because almost everyone likes them, they’re tasty and most importantly, they remind me of home, when my mom makes them for a party or just because. Nye used the symbol of a cookie because that one small gesture led to a whole community becoming connected for even just a small amount of time. Additionally, the image of the powdered sugar on all the passengers' clothes allowed the audience to notice that they all ate the same delicious cookies. When we think of home, we think of comfort, warmth, family, etc. In “Gate A-4” we see an example of how they achieve this. The woman is upset because she is confused about the flight schedule, she is on the dirty