Kastri And Sona In Difficult Daughters

In the short story, “Head Cook at Weddings and Funerals” by Vi Plotnikoff, Marusa is a young, independent girl who is driven to get what she wants. She is the epitome of “perfect” in some eyes, however we find out that her character is much more than just a pretty face. Though she is a flat character and we do not know much about her, she undergoes an important change caused by a conflict, thus becoming a dynamic character. Growing up, we are expected to follow many traditions. Marusa’s mother, Aunt Florence, expects Marusa to marry into a good family because “she knows her daughter will be taken care of for the rest of her life.”

“Dadi’s Family” observes what a “traditional” family in Haryana, India is like and the issues / concerns the family faces in “modern” times. In the documentary "Dadi 's family", the film explores the concept of family and the roles that a woman play in life. The roles are daughter, sister, mother, mother-in-law, daughter-in-law, and sister-in-law. These roles are portrayed to us via various members of Dadi 's family. In this family, we have Dada and Dadi (grandmother and grandfather) as the head of the family. We have the two older sons, Meherlal and Mohinder who are married to Darshini and Sita respectively. The youngest son, Rajinder gets married to Kanta in the film. Dadi and Dada also have two daughters Anguri and Saroj who aren’t shown too much in the film but are married in other villages.

The minister then questions her but after his unsuccessful attempt, Mother’s actions become a scandal throughout the town because “any deviation from the ordinary course of life in this quiet town was enough to stop all progress in it” (C670). This does not bother Mother and she successfully continues with her plans. By overcoming this alienation both characters achieve feminine empowerment.

What makes a child determine at such a young age to defy her mom on every hand for the rest of their life? The sad realization that Ni’Kan would rather see her mother angry at her than disappointed in her became her revelation.

The daughter is bored with her mother's dreams and lets her pride take over. She often questions her self-worth, and she decides that she respects herself as nothing more than the normal girl that she is and always will be. Her mother is trying to mold her into something that she can never be, she believes, and only by her futile attempts to rebel can she hold on to the respect that she has for herself. The daughter is motivated only to fail so that she may continue on her quest to be normal. Her only motivation for success derives from her own vanity; although she cannot admit it to herself or her mother, she wants the audience to see her as that something that she is not, that same something that her mother hopes she could be.

Neen was desperate to make her mother proud and wanted to feel loved; she was willing to do anything to gain acceptance for once in her life. Neen often sold her body for money so her mom could use drugs and married a man when she was a minor in hopes to make her mother proud. With a lack of self-esteem, self-efficacy and self-concept, Neen gave herself away for the pleasures of others.

At the beginning of this same line, the girl tells what she does not like, "It seemed to me that work in the house was endless, dreary and peculiarly depressing."  She sees her mother's life and the work that she does and simply does not want to be a part of it.  She also outright says, "I hated the hot dark kitchen in summer; the green blinds and the flypapers, the same old oil table and wavy mirror and bumpy linoleum" (113).  The girl is showing her opposition to her assigned gender role.  She does not like working in the house or preparing comparing and contrasting of the father's world versus the mother's world.  The father's world is composed of outdoor work, fox farming, has no emotion, expresses freedom and identified by light.  The father's world is all about the death of animals.  So, there is no time for emotions.  This lack of emotions is also carried into the relationship between the girl and her father.  The girl says, My father did not talk to me unless it was about the job we were doing.  Whatever thoughts and stories my father had were private, and I was shy of him and would never ask him questions" (112).  The girl accepted this and considered it part of the attitude you have to have for this job.  The girl prefers her father's type of emotion rather than her mother's.  The girl describes her mother's emotions:

Being a part of the outdoor world and assisting her father out on the farm was important to her. The girl was pleased when her father complimented her hard work, she “turned away and raked furiously, red in the face with pleasure” (4). Although, whenever the narrator’s mother asked for help she quickly did the task, but she stated, “as soon as I was done I ran out of the house... before my mother thought of what she wanted me to do next” (4). It seems as if she did not want to be like her mother. She viewed her mother as boring, and she did not want to become a modern housewife with little importance to the world. The girl clearly stated “it seemed to me that work in the house was endless, dreary, and peculiarly depressing; work done out of doors, and in my father's service, was ritualistically important” (4). Nevertheless, as the girl aged, her personality towards life began to change. She had been comfortable with the idea of killing animals and found herself watching the process, but later, she matured into a girl who “didn't think of watching it” (9). Without showing regret, the girl seemed to be

puts her son’s comfort and life above all and swallows her pride. Furthermore, as a woman of the

Jeannette can see and understand what is going on to her and her family. Jeannette shares: ‘mom you can’t quit your job’ I said. “ we need the money.” mom asked. “you have a job. You can earn money. Lori can earn money too.”(218). jeannette gets into a conflict with her mother. Jeannette don’t want her mother quit the job; because Jeannette understands this time her family need the money than ever. Opposite to Jeannette, her mother do not care much for the family and her children. Jeannette also conflict with her father after she tells him about her mother problem. Jeannette shares: “who do you think you are” he asked. “Shes your mother.” “ then why she doesn’t act like one?” i looked at dad for what felt like a very long moment. Then I burted out, “and why don’t you act like a dad” (220). Instead go to the bar and drink; jeannette wants her father to get a job to help the family. Jeannette wants her parents have responsibility for their kids and their family. Jeannette matures in her mind and also her actions such as talks to her parents to get a job, and take care her siblings. She is a young lady, but she has a mature thinking. Jeannette says:” i was afraid that Mr.Brecker wouldn’t give me the job if he knew I was only thirteen, so I told him I was seventeen.”(215). Jeannette has to work to get the money to help her family when she only thirteen years old. At this age, most children are only focus on school, but

For centuries, women have had the role of being the perfect and typical house wife; needs to stay home and watch the children, cook for husbands, tend to the laundry and chores around the house. In her short story “Girl”, Jamaica Kincaid provides a long one sentence short story about a mother giving specific instructions to her daughter but with one question towards the end, with the daughter’s mother telling her daughter if she had done all the instructions to become a so called “perfect” woman, every man would want her. Kincaid’s structuring in “Girl,” captures a demanding and commanding tone. This short story relates to feminist perspectives. The mother expects a great deal from her daughter to have a certain potential and she does not hesitate to let her daughter understand that. As a matter of fact, the story is about two pages long, made into one long sentence - almost the whole time the mother is giving her daughter directions to follow - conveys a message to the reader that the mother demands and expects great potential in her daughter. The daughter is forced to listen and learn from what her mother is telling her to do to become the perfect housewife. Throughout the story, Kincaid uses the symbols of the house and clothing, benna and food to represent the meanings of becoming a young girl to a woman and being treated like one in society. Women are portrayed to appeal to a man to become the ideal woman in society, while men can do anything they please.

The novel begins with the mother ignorant to modern society. Junior emphasizes this. "No one had ever taught her anything. She was an orphan at six months"(23). "At the age of thirteen, she was married off to a man rolling in money and in morality whom she had never seen. He would have been the age of

The girl distrusts her mother and believes her to be out of touch, while helping her father in "his real work" (468). Surprisingly, the girl's desire to avoid the manifestation of her femininity in womanly tasks, such as cooking and cleaning, influences her into feeling that her mother is "plotting now to get [her] to stay in the house [. . ]. and keep [her] from working for [her] father" (469). The girl chooses to dismiss her mother, thereby dismissing her own future role as a housewife.

To most females, family is always the first concern, and the child may occupy the essential part of a mother’s heart. However, Lady Susan looks like barely cares about her daughter. The most value of Frederica to Lady Susan is Frederica’s marriage which can bring Lady Susan fortune and status. Through the letters which Lady Susan wrote to her friend Mrs. Johnson, she complains her daughter multiple times and uses negative words to describe her, like “She is a stupid girl, and has

Nyasha vocally resists when she feels oppressed because she refuses to accept being controlled. However, as a child, she must defer to her parents whether she likes it or not. Early in the novel, Maiguru questions if Nyasha should read Lady Chatterly’s Lover, a book that contains many Western themes and ideals, because “that’s not very good…[she doesn’t] want [her] to read books like that”. Nyasha retorts, “What’s all the fuss about anyway? It’s only a book and I’m only reading it” (75). The controversy of Lady Chatterly’s Lover causes Maiguru to label it as “not very good”. Italics place extra emphasis on the words “book” and “reading”, because these two words are associated with gaining knowledge, and therefore gaining power. Maiguru does not want Nyasha to gain power in the form of ideas that might cause her to rebel against her parents. Nyasha’s confrontational attitude about the book reaffirms Maiguru’s belief that it