Remembering my Lessons
My parents love me. They have every intent to guide me into the greatest thing I can be. Every experience they’ve gone through is turned into another word of advice, which admittedly can weigh heavy on my head. Although they have lived through the same harsh lessons with their parents and know what it feels to have their dreams swiped away, my parents will do the same to me. Maybe I will do the same in 15 years. The stories Women Like Us by Edwidge Danticat and Girl by Jamaica Kincaid show a similar message, the individuals who make you conform to society have gone through the same trouble conforming to the ridiculous standards of their age.
A child would not change the way act they to make other people happy. We grow changing the way we live to allow others around us to feel comfortable, this is shown in the quote “Always eat your food in such a way that it won’t turn someone else’s stomach” (Kincaid, pg.157, para 1). By telling her daughter to eat in a way that would not disgust the ones around, the mother of the narrator is ultimately teaching her daughter to put other people’s happiness before her own. This is something that does not make
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“You remember thinking while braiding your hair that you look a lot like your mother (Danticat, pg. 20, para 1)” The part of this quote that sticks out to me is “you remember thinking”, as opposed to “you think”, meaning the entire story is written in past tense. While the narrator is reflecting upon her childhood, she compares herself to her mother, she realized that she is the same disciplinarian as her mother. Furthermore, the quote: “this was your testament to the way these women lived and died and lived again” (Danticat, pg.23, para 6) reinforces the fact that no matter what she does, the narrator will end up doing the same as her