Motherhood In 'Push And Why I Write'

Judith Wright’s poem “Mother to Child” is about a woman’s emotions during the different stages of motherhood. It tells the audience that the bond between a mother and her child is very powerful and that it changes as the child grows. Wright shows us this through her use of imagery, symbolism and the structure of her poem. The use of those three elements of literature help communicate the love the woman has for her child and how their connection grows stronger as time goes on.

All through the novel Janie travels through valuable life experiences allowing her to grow as a woman. Janie at first has a difficult time understanding her needs rather than wants, but as she continues to experience new situations she realizes she values respect. Janie’s first two marriages turned out to be tragic mistakes, but with each marriage Janie gained something valuable. When Janie is disrespected in her second marriage with Joe Starks, he publicly humiliates her, disrespecting her as a wife and woman. This experience forced Janie to come out of her comfort zone and stand up for herself.

When Rosa returned to America and found out her husband’s plan, she declared her refusal going against Santino. This shows a major change in Rosa because he was someone she was most afraid of, and allowed him to control her till she took this stand. Though taking his threats seriously she takes the kids and moves to Chicago. This also reveals the changes in Rosa because she is willing to be on her own in a brand new place. While in Chicago she divorces Santino and eventually remarries Gionin. Though Gionin is a good man he leaves Rosa briefly fearing religious persecution. When recounting this she didn’t panic and managed on her own without him. Rosa also learns to be more wary of strangers. When she first arrived in America a man conned her out of her money because she was more naive then. A man approaches her asking for the ten dollars for her husband to buy the horse he had previously mentioned to Rosa but instead of handing over the money she pretends to not have it. Later when she brings it up with Giornin they found out it was a scam and that Rosa acted smart in suspecting something. From the time Rosa came to the United States till her life in Chicago, she has struggled, but instead of breaking down she continued working harder.

[completely seduced] is a free form poem focusing on the efforts and transformative process of motherhood. Brandt utilizes literary elements such as structure and space to directly address an impacting message to her readers. The integration of transformation in [completely seduced] strongly influences a connection between reader and speaker by indulging in the aspects and theme of a mother’s unconditional love. Through literary elements and a strong globally experienced theme, Di Brandt creates a powerfully raw message about the effects of being a mother and raising a child.

This highlights the realistic atmosphere prevailing as well as reflects the true meaning of relationship. The readers are exposed to the mother-son relationship. It can be seen that even if the narrator is a twenty-year old law student, he is still the little boy who needed his neck scrubbed from the point of view of the mother. Whatever good advice the son gives, it is not followed and instead he is given a lecture. This is a typical mother-son relationship which shows that no matter how much a child grows, he always remains a little kid for the mother. Moreover, the readers also notice the routine life of the narrator and his mother. The boy used to accompany his mother to work and help her which makes a four-hour job becomes two. There is solidarity, strong family bond and understanding between them because although he did not like his mother

This myth of marianismo exercised by the mothers provided them with a stable identity; however similar to Taylor this identity also restricted them . This identity through marianismo restricts them to be women dedicated to the home and forces them to meet cultural expectations; further it creates the notion that “ a woman's role as mother becomes her central identification” ; hence, one cannot go without the other and a woman’s role is dependent on motherhood. Taylor describes the use of motherhood as a contradiction that questions the responsibility of a good mother and a problematic choice. Farj further shows the reasoning for such

Similarly, Janie makes another great sacrifice when she decides to leave her life of ease and luxury in Eatonville, so she can start a new life with Tea Cake. In Eatonville, she had authority as the store owner and as the former mayor’s wife, but she decides to follow her heart which ultimately leads to her fulfillment of self-actualization with the help of Tea Cake. Without Tea Cake, Janie could not have found herself, and his impact on her remains even after his death. Janie recounts her life lesson to Phoeby saying, “Love is lak da sea. It’s uh movin’ thing, but still and all, it takes its shape from de shore it meets, and it’s different with every shore...Two things everybody’s got tuh do for theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin’ fuh theyselves” (191-92). Through Janie’s words, the effect of Tea Cake on her is eminent through how Janie learn about life and herself and leads her to becoming independent. Because Janie sacrifices her luxurious life in Eatonville, through Tea Cake, she fulfills her need of self-actualization, a recurring idea in the book. Janie’s values concerning her life and of Tea Cake are also illuminated in her conversation with Phoeby before she leaves Eatonville. She and Tea Cake “‘...[had] done made up [their] minds tuh

In both novels the children wish to find peace by being with their own mothers. Even they try to substitute a mother figure in their lives at times that they don’t have any access to their own mothers. In addition it is going to manifest that attending to the psychological and physical health of mothers are as significant as their children’s. In another word, the double destructive consequences that occur in families are going to be examined. It is going to show how mother’s isolation or bewilderment in their own lives could affect their children’s life. As long as mothers do not find their own identities they could not expect their children to have real identity. They wish to live in a permanent circumstance and live as normal human beings. Moreover, this study aims to depict how both presence and absence of the mothers can totally change the future life of the

Even before Joe’s death, Janie “was saving up feelings for some man she had never seen. She had an inside and an outside now and suddenly she knew not how to mix them.”(75) Joe’s influences controlled Janie to the point where she lost her independence and hope. She no longer knew how to adapt to the change brought upon her. When she finally settles and begins to gain back that independence, the outward existence of society came back into play. “Uh woman by herself is uh pitiful thing. Dey needs aid and assistance.”(90) Except this time Janie acted upon her own judgment and fell for someone out of the ordinary. Tea Cake was a refreshing change for Janie, despite the society’s disapproval. “Janie looked down on him and felt a self-crushing love. So her soul crawled out from its hiding place.”(128) This was what she had always dreamt of. When she was with Tea Cake, she no longer questioned inwardly, she simply rejected society’s opinions and acted upon her own desires.

However, the author elaborately narrates the anguish of women about their appropriate roles in the post-war period via religious and societal approaches. Although the religion embraces the mother’s abandonment of family, the author proposes a decent woman by borrowing the perspectives of the two boys and also by proposing the adverse character, Granny, who is submissive and cares her family.

Instead of treating Janie like the beautiful woman that she is, he uses her as an object. Joe was a man who “treasured [Janie] as a posession” (Berridge). Joe’s demanding nature suppresses Janie’s urge to grow and develop, thus causing her journey to self-realization to take steps backward rather than forward. In Janie’s opinion, “he needs to “have [his] way all [his] life, trample and mash down and then die ruther than tuh let [him]self heah 'bout it” (Hurston 122). It is almost as if Janie loses sense of her own self-consciousness due to the fact that she becomes like a puppy being told what to do by her master. The death of Jody is actually a positive thing. Joe’s controlling nature stifles Janie’s inner voice. While married to Jody, Janie became closer to others, however, she did not become closer to herself. Being on her own again gave her another chance to embark on her journey and realize who Janie Crawford really is.

Janie is married to two men, before she finds Tea Cake, that both suppress her individuality in their own ways. Janie's first husband, Logan Killicks, suppresses her by keeping her in a marriage that she can't fully, or at all, love the man she's married to. "Cause you told me Ah wuz gointer love him, and, and Ah don’t. Maybe if somebody was to tell me how, Ah could do it." Janie says she needs to be told how to feel about Logan in order for her to be able to love feel anything towards him at all. Janie is a mixture of the people around her because they're telling her to live and how to think. Janie can't bring herself to figure out how to do these things on her own so she ends up looking for the answers in the man she married, her grandmother, and her society. Joe Starks, Janie's second husband, keeps her from showing who she really wants to be by

A new hindrance called society skeptically watches Janie as she quickly changes from being a widow of a powerful man to the wife of a young, poor man named Tea Cake, since her quest for love was not nearly over. She had the option of either being submissive to society by staying as Joe’s widow or show tremendous self-reliance and confidence by marrying Tea Cake. Pheoby, Janie’s close friend, declares, “Dat’s de way it looks. Still and all, she’s [Janie’s] her own woman...she should know by now what she wants tuh do” (Hurston 111). This shows how Pheoby trusts in Janie’s self-reliance and genuinely believes that she can make her own decisions. Also, Janie explains that “Tea Cake ain’t no Jody [Joe] Starks… but de minute Ah marries ‘im everybody is gointuh be makin’ comparisons...dis is a love game. Ah done lived Grandma’s way, Ah means tuh live mine” (Hurston 114). She wants to live her own independent life, and not have to rely or depend on anyone. This is rather ironic because Janie does end up depending on Tea Cake, but perhaps not for material goods or money, like with Logan and Joe, but for something called love. Because Janie loves Tea Cake so much, she is willing to become submissive to his will. He ends up finding pleasure by letting out his anger by beating her. For example, Sop-de-bottom, one of Tea Cake’s friends, states “Ah love tuh whip uh tender women lak Janie! Ah bet

Janie’s relationship with her second husband, Joe Starks, is perhaps the most damaging. In the beginning of their marriage, Janie is proud and admiring of the successful, strong man she marries and runs off with. At first, it seems as though Janie has executed a successful breakaway from her unfulfilling life with Logan Killicks, and transitioned to an exciting, happy life with Joe Starks. Unfortunately, Janie and Joe’s marriage retracts from the infatuated love it once was, into a

Janie Crawford has dealt with a lot in Their Eyes Were Watching God, but the worst aspect Janie has had to deal with is the way that Joe Starks treats her. As her husband, Joe has an obligation to love and support her, but this is the opposite of what he actually does. This relationship that Janie has to put up with is terrible for her, but it does showcase her true character in the fact that she is able to show how she deals with terrible situations such as her marriage to Joe. Janie Crawford is able to truly showcase her character because of her unhappy marriage, therefore the reader is able to see into her mind instead of just witnessing what she chooses to show.