An Analysis Of Mary Mccarthy's Memories Of A Catholic Girlhood

Mary Katherine’s biggest issue with her family is that she is considered an outsider, and isn’t shown any kind of affection from her parents. This notion is presented in Jackson’s book when a character makes the following statement about Mary Katherine “ A child should be punished for wrongdoing, but she should be made to feel that she is still loved” (

Mary had been interviewed to the point where she shut down and couldn’t answer anymore questions. She sat in silence when detectives would investigate her, unable to tell them what happened. Mary eventually fell guilty and started her journey to baby jail where she began a sentencing. The other juvenile delinquents and CO’s, or guards, of baby jail mistreated Mary because of the accusations people made. Mary’s back story consisted of murdering a baby and now that’s how people characterized and treated her, like a murderer.

Staggered out into the rain” (282). They are so desperate for money that Mary will see herself to make a living. If she was white this would be less of a problem. Discrimination will always make minorities life

* Why did Mary defy Mr Neal? What did she achieve? What role does the character of Mary play in the text?

As Mary’s story unravels, she continues to suffer long hours of work, starvation, and separation from her family. She reads her holy bible and is constantly reminding herself that God is with her and will see her through these trials. Her spirits are lifted her master agrees to sell Mary to her husband, and her mistress begins the journey with her, but before long the mistress decides not to go any further and they turn back. Not long after, she starts to loose hope that she will ever be reunited with her family. She becomes discouraged, and her spirit

Mary begins the story as a doting housewife going through her daily routine with her husband. She is content to sit in his company silently until he begins a conversation. Everything is going as usual until he goes “ slowly to get himself another drink” while telling Mary to “sit down” (Dahl 1). This shocks Mary as she is used to getting things for him. After downing his second drink, her husband coldly informs her that he is leaving her and the child. This brutal news prompts the first change in Mary, from loving wife to emotionless and detached from everything.

Not only does Mary cause both verbal and physical abuse to her daughter, but she also causes harm to Precious’ new born, specifically when she throws Abdul to the ground. Much of Mary’s discontent towards her daughter stems from Mary’s husband (who is also Precious’ father), Carl, the father of Precious’ two children. Carl sexually abused Precious and Mary is resentful towards her, once saying, “Uppity now cause he give her more childrens than he did me” (Fletcher, 2008). Precious does a good job of concealing her emotions from the abuse in front of her mother and others, often envisioning a happy place where she has a boyfriend and life is seemingly well. Precious does, however, slip when talking to a social worker, Ms. Weiss, and reveals to her being sexually abused.

Mary I would say had a difficult childhood. She was born July 19th 1817 Mount Vernon, Ohio. Her Dad was a farmer, but her Mom died when Mary was 17 months old! So, because of her death her Dad sent her off to live with Mary’s grandparents. Well her grandparents died so she went to live with her Uncle, he was a farmer also. She was taught only the basics of school, yet she went to Oberlin College which

Claireece’s mom, Mary used her culture to assimilate from the dominant culture, all for the purpose of obtaining public assistance. She used her dominance over Claireece’s to manipulate the system of the dominant culture and used it to her

(Bowen, 2000.) Although not much insight is given into the awful relationship Mary had with her late husband, there’s is evident that she resents her daughter. Precious became the target of neglect and abuse due to the fact that, her father raped her and her mother instead of protecting her became jealous of her own daughter. Mary intentionally tries to impair her daughter Precious by constantly demoralizing her by telling her that she is ugly, fat and stupid. Mary is fixed on the idea of hurting her physically, emotionally and psychologically. Mary is a constant remind to Precious of how she will be nothing without her. As a result, she internalizes this tension and many aspects of her life suffers. Precious is performing poorly at school, her physical health is bad as she is overly obese and she is a loner in the sense that she makes no effort to befriend anyone. She is constantly worried about what her mother is going to do to her for the day or she is constantly on edge with her mother, not knowing what to

Since God was not tolerant of sinners and evil acts, Mary recounted many different acts that were considered evil or barbaric that the Native Americans did. For example, when the Native Americans attacked Mary’s town, she described the aftermath as, “a solemn sight to see so many Christians lying in their blood, some here and some there, like a company of sheep torn by wolves,” (Derounian 12-51). Mary separates the

Although Mary did not always live with abusive families, the main focus in her book were the ones that treated her poorly. From roughly age twelve to her death in 1833, she was a subject to unfortunate treatment while living with the three families mentioned above, the Inghams, the D-s, and the Woods.

There is a constant cycle of talking-at and not talking-to. The lack of knowing how to communicate effectively is a hindrance on the mother-daughter dynamic as well as their ability to This cycle of learned behavior, many have impacted how Mary's lack of ability to communicate in a positive and healthy manner is a pattern within the family. The is filled with anger, Mary always appears to be upset and angry faith Precious or the government and life in general. This frustration that she faces she tends to handle them with violence. Education is not encouraged and is seen as useless. Relying on the government is a norm within

As a result of Mary’s isolation she suffered from severe emotional and mental issues, her left eye was paralyzed shut. Her constitutional rights were violated, but the law still held here against her will. Numerous tests were taken and on many occasions they were negative for typhoid. She cooked for the Doctors and Nurses at North Brother Island and even played with the sick children and no one ever got ill.

By the novel, Mary discusses several issues related to relationships which terrorize aspects of her personal life, including birth and childhood, the death of her mother, her miscarriage and new child and her coming across with the events which occurred in the summer of 1816 (see notes).