Journal #1 While reading “The Joy of Nelly Deane” by Willa Cather. Nelly is describe as the prettiest girl in town of Riverbend and she was the happiest. Nelly seems to be free spirited and three of the women in this story was hoping she would go to their church and not the Methodist church. Everyone seem to like Nelly. Nelly and her friends are in a play called “Queen Ester” they have long practices took them three months to make it right.
Facts William E. Story, Sr. (uncle) promised to pay his nephew, William E. Story II $5,000 if he refrained from drinking, smoking, swearing, and playing cards or billiards for money until he reached 21 years old. Although, it was legal to drinking and play cards for money during the late 1860 's; the nephew agreed and completed his part of the bargain. The nephew also wrote a letter to his uncle about the agreement. The uncle replied and told him the money would include interest under the terms and conditions of the letter. Twelve years later, the uncle died without paying his nephew any of the $5,000 with interest.
The sudden change in Kate’s health raises suspicion from Abagail Wescot; leaving her to believe that Kate was simply faking her symptoms. Though Abagail had reason to believe Kate was simply putting on a show she then worries as concern from Daniel Wescot raises attention. Despite the conflictions the Wescots felt into determining whether or not Kate was simply duping them or was genuinely experiencing the bewitchment their daughter had once experienced; both Daniel and Abagail found it suitable to seek any advice or opinions from neighbors determining the issues going on with Kate. When seeking medical advice from the local midwife Goody Bates, she and the wescots were open to believe that Kate’s fits could’ve been caused naturally. As stated “Goody Bates saw no reason to ignore the possibility of a natural explanation” (GodBeer, pg.17).
Her mother’s strength of tolerating unacceptable nonsense from her father makes her a stronger person. Moss’s yearning to appear beautiful misguides her from the true meaning of beauty, but she learns beauty is not defined by physical appearances. Barbara Moss’s memoir inspires people everywhere. This novel displays a sense of escaping poverty and becoming successful in anything yearned
Lydia experiences enormous pressure with “[a]ll her life she had heard her mother’s heart drumming on beat: doctor, doctor, doctor. She wanted this so much, Lydia knew, that she no longer needed to say it. It was always there. Lydia could not imagine another future, another life” (p.163). The pressure from her mother’s expectation results in Lydia’s low self-esteem.
What happens when humour is combined to talk about difficult subjects in novels? In order to address the severe problem of stereotypes and bring to light that Indigenous people face, these two authors: Thomas King and Drew Hayden Taylor use a unique type of humour. Instead of ignoring unsettling topics, they use humour as a tool to talk about these biases and bring to light these issues. Their work acknowledges the strength of humour and its ability to challenge biases and stereotypes.
Maggie in Alice Walker’s short story “Everyday Use” plays the role of being the nervous and ugly sister of the story, however she is the child with the good heart. Maggie was nervous ashamed of her scars “Maggie was nervous… she will stand hopelessly in corners, homely ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs”. Living in a house with a pretty sister and being the ugly sister with scars could be the reason why she picked up on a timid personality, being ‘ashamed’ of her own skin shaping her in a way that she degraded herself from everybody else. Maggie was not this way before the fire, her mother stated, as it is quoted that she had adopted to a certain walk ever since the fire.
So in the beginning of the book the main character, Charlie, is at a mental hospital. She has thick bandages wrapping her arms, legs, and stomach, hiding the cuts, scars, and lost battles. After she lost her father, her mother became an alcoholic, beating her whenever she got overwhelmed. In the attempt to protect herself she broke her mother’s nose, causing her mother to kick her out of the house. She lived on the streets, until one night when a stranger tried to assault her, she was saved though by two boys who later became friends with Charlie.
A Sense of Longing In the 2004 short story “Lusus Naturae” by Margaret Atwood, an unnamed young girl develops a disease that causes physiological changes to her appearance and is labeled a freak of nature. Her family is embarrassed by her condition and concerned about the social stigma it will have on them. Their refusal to accept her demonstrates how cruel people can be even to a family member. The treatment she endures causes her a sense of isolation and loneliness from her family and society.
That is, not only does her mother arrive in town, putting a stop to her schemes, but also the protagonist’s natural biological body disrupts her plans through pregnancy. Indeed, John Richetti argues that: “The early eighteenth-century amatory novella…out one part of the antithesis I am working with: …the heroines are visited by overwhelming and ineffable…passion, obsessions that preclude self-examination and make a mockery of agency and self-consciousness” (336-337) in his essay “Ideas and Voices: The New Novel in Eighteenth-Century England.” The “Shock of Nature” (69), of labour, starts while she is still in town and under her mother’s dominion. The protagonist’s mother is a “severely virtuous” (68) lady, and upon finding her daughter ill, feels “Pity and Tenderness” (69), which is then “succeeded by an adequate Shame and Indignation” (69). Her mother hears Beauplaisir’s story after finding out the truth of her daughter’s schemes.
Mona Awad’s novel 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl demonstrates the failure of the main character’s parents and culture. Elizabeth is raised by a single, distant mother and for the most part her father is absentee. Elizabeth thus grew up feeling unloved, and unworthy, and never developed a solid sense of self. This is characterized by her inconsistent name- she keeps changing what she wants to be called, unable to figure out who she is. Being raised in a patriarchal culture, access to healing resources were not readily available, as the patriarchy does not cultivate true healing or growth.
Everyday people are forced into situations without a choice. Whether these positions are small or life changing, individuals are given the option to find good or bad. In the novel Tending to Grace, Kimberly Newton Fusco writes about a young girl's journey into accepting the world around her in a seemingly horrible point in her life. The feeling of unimportance Cornelia is given after her mother leaves her allows her an unexpected sense of love, self confidence and voice showing good can always stem from the evil in life if one allows it. Through the bad Fusco shows that acceptance of oneself and the world around them can prevail.
Everything from how her interactions with her family to her perception of her environment and how it evolves throughout the story allow the reader to almost feel what the narrator is feeling as the moves through the story. In the beginning, the only reason the reader knows there may be something wrong with the narrator is because she comes right out and says she may be ill, even though her husband didn’t believe she was (216). As the story moves on, it becomes clear that her illness is not one of a physical nature, but of an emotional or mental one. By telling the story in the narrator’s point of view, the reader can really dive into her mind and almost feel what she’s feeling.
Her mother died shortly after her birth leaving her father to care for her and her half-sister, Fanny Imlay. The dynamic of her family soon changed when her father remarried. Mary was treated poorly by her new stepmother, and her quality of life was less than satisfactory. Her step-siblings were allowed to receive an education while Mary stayed at home. She found comfort in reading, and created stories in her father’s library.
The authority of tradition in the society Kingston lived in is very oppressive. Living in a male-dominated society forces Kingston to live in curiosity and fear due to her aunt 's act of adultery. Brave Orchid, Kingston 's mother, draws on Chinese myths and experiences to teach Chinese traditions and customs to her daughter. They are not usually fact, so Kingston has to decipher what is real from what is fantasy. The story opens up a world of imagination for her about not only what it is like for her aunt, but what it may be like for her.
