Dewey Dell Pregnancy Quotes

Sharlet Cannon English 1302-56328 Professor T. Heflin August 9th, 2015 The Mother Abortion, a sensitive topic most people don’t want to talk about or try to figure out ways for it to be out-lawed. " The Mother," a poem written by Gwendolyn Brooks looks at abortion from a mothers’ point of view. This poem deals with the heartfelt emotions that a woman may go through after she has had an abortion. The theme, tone and figures of speech written displays overwhelming regret tormenting her mind.

* She says it will remind her when her husband rape her and that she would be angry at the baby

   "I can no more forget it, than a mother can forget her suckling child". Jane Austen wrote these words about her novel, Sense and Sensibility, in a letter to her sister Cassandra in 1811. Such a maternal feeling in Austen is interesting to note, particularly because any reader of hers is well aware of a lack of mothers in her novels. Frequently we encounter heroines and other major characters whom, if not motherless, have mothers who are deficient in maturity, showing affection, and/or common sense. Specifically, I would like to look at Sense and Sensibility, which, according to Ros Ballaster's introduction to the novel, "is full of, indeed over-crowded with, mothers" (vii). By

of rape or incest may not want to have the baby, as it would remind

“It’s possible that pregnancy is a type of immune suppression. Your body is really focusing its efforts on growing another human being, so it’s a little distracted on really taking care of itself.”

In fact, her mother favored her brothers, so Eleanor knew what it was like to not have any attention. “Later, with the arrival of boys, Elliot and Hall, Eleanor watched her mother hold the boys on her lap and lovingly stroke their hair, while for Eleanor there seemed only coolness, distance.” She was ignored, while her


“He said he could treat her physiologically, but had no idea how to help her become a mother.”

However, the two books depict seemingly opposite goads for the early pregnancies. In Promises I Can Keep, the mothers describe a strong push from the fathers to become pregnant, even if they weren’t quite ready yet for children. Celeste, a white twenty-one-year-old illustrates, “He just kept saying, ‘I wanna have a baby, I wanna have a baby,’ just out of the blue. I kept saying, ‘Not yet, not yet.’ And it wound up happening” (Edin and Kefalas 36). This theme prevailed through many women, who eventually gave into their boyfriend’s demands and purposefully became pregnant to fulfill their desires of having children. In contrast, the men did not pronounce this overwhelming desire that the women claimed they held. In fact, John Carr claims to feeling stuck with his girlfriend Rayaan because of her pregnancy: “She was always cheating on me. So whenever I would catch her cheating on me the first thing she would do is she would turn to sex because she was a nympho….in the afterglow of these post fight reunions ‘she would start talking that she knows she wants to have a baby” (Edin and Nelson

Dewey Dell betrays him by leaving him in the middle of the night, unattended in an unfamiliar area, which is irresponsible considering his young age. She also commits the act of buying bananas instead of a toy train, which he desired. These betrayals are driven as well by her yearning of getting rid of her and Lafe’s child. When Dewey Dell goes to get her “medicine” from MacGowan, she left Vardaman alone, “I looked out the door, but there wasn’t nobody but a boy in overalls sitting on the curb” (Faulkner 248). In response to this MacGowan asks Vardaman if he wants anything, but he gets no reply in return, then he locks the door and turns off the lights to continue on with Dewey Dell. After Dewey Dell leaves MacGowan’s, she has a conversation with Vardaman about the toy train he wants, “The track went shining around the window, it red on the track. But she said he would not sell it to the town boys. ‘But it will be there Christmas,’ Dewey Dell says...” (Faulkner 250). Instead of buying the toy train for Vardaman she insists on getting bananas that she would enjoy, rather than being selfless and getting something that he would like. She says this knowing that the family will most likely not return to Jefferson again which further accentuates the

* A woman who lacks the mental capacity to consent to sexual intercourse becomes pregnant

Throughout the entire book the reader sees how the Tulls feel about the Bundrens and how they react to all of their questionable decisions. Cora Tull is particularly judgemental about the Bundren children and Dewey Dell specifically. She uses her Christian ideals and social status to portray Dewey Dell as less of a person than she is. In one specific example, when Cora is describing the state of affairs in the Bundren household, she comments on how Dewey Dell is behaving. Cora says, “and that near-naked girl always standing over Addie with a fan so that every time a body tried to talk to her and cheer her up, would answer for her right quick, like she was trying to keep anybody from coming near her at all“ (Faulkner 24). By saying this, Cora fully reveals herself as a character who believes herself above those around her, and proves that she believes that due to her status as a wealthier woman, she can treat others however she

In Dickinson's poem # 1510 she also focuses on loneliness. In the first two lines,

Another facet of Freud’s defense mechanisms that Faulkner employs in his novel is the use of rationalization. There are several instances throughout the Bundrens’ journey where they act irrationally to fulfill Addie’s wish of being buried in Jefferson. According to Freud “rationalization is a mechanism involving post hoc logical explanations for behaviors that were actually driven by internal unconscious motives” (Friedman 49). The Bundrens did not even begin their journey to Jefferson until ten days after Addie had died. The journey to Jefferson itself was unreasonable for the Bundrens to complete. Jefferson is far away, the bridge to get there was flooded, and they are a poor family who must rely on others to help them along their journey. While Anse, Addie’s husband, does not appear to be grieving and does not mention Addie’s death, we learn that “his mind is set on taking her to Jefferson,” despite warnings of rain and a flooded bridge (Faulkner 86).

The man, however, is not the sole contributor to the communication breakdown. Right away the girl begins to show her weakness and inability to express herself. When the man initially directs the conversation to the operation (abortion), her reaction is described: "The girl looked at the ground the table legs rested on [and] . . . did not say anything" (275). Failure to state her conviction is illustrated in this example, and is further indicated by frail hints of her desire to keep the baby: "Once they take it away, you never get it back" (276). An obvious hint, yet she never clearly voices her hunger to have the baby. She continues to desire his will over hers in lines such as this one: "Then I?ll do it [have an abortion]. Because I don?t care about me" (275).

between her mind and her heart. Her mind is telling her to keep the baby, but