Mrs. Maureen's Story Of Injustice By Toni Morrison

In today’s economy, it is a hard fact that many women will have to enter the workforce. In her article for The Atlantic, “Why Women Still Can’t have it All”, Anne-Marie Slaughter examines the difficulties faced by women who either have children or would someday like to do so. Having given up on the task of holding a high powered government position while being the mother of a teenager, her kairotic moment, the author discusses the changes that would be necessary in order for women to find a real work-life balance. Although Slaughter 's target audience is primarily women who seek high powered positions, the article contains ample information that should appeal to both men who seek to balance the needs of a growing family with their work responsibilities, as well as workplace policy makers who could help usher in the necessary changes. Her goal in sharing her experiences is to argue that women can succeed at the very top level of their organizations, “But not today, not with the way America’s economy and society are currently structured” (Slaughter).

In “The Victims” by Sharon Olds it describes a divorce through the eyes of the parents’ children. The first section is shown through past tense as the speaker is a child and the last section is shown in present tense with the speaker already being an adult trying to make sense of past events. The word “it” in the first two lines carries a tremendous weight, hinting at the ever so present abuse and mistreatment, but remaining non-specific. The first part generates a negative tone toward the father who is referred to as malicious by the mother who “took it” from him “in silence” until she eventually “kicked him out.” Through the entirety of the poem the children are taught to hate their father. Who taught them? Their mother showed them that their father was a villain and were taught to have no sympathy for him but “to hate you and take it” and so they did so. Although the poem never directly states what the father did to receive the family’s hated, the speaker gives examples as to why he is hated.

In the article “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All,” Anne-Marie Slaughter explains why women can’t manage both the difficulties of a high-end job while doing the best they can as a parent. Slaughter is a very successful women who had worked for Hillary Clinton at the state department being the first woman policy planner. She begins the essay by explaining a conversation that came up between herself and a colleague who held a senior position in the White House. She tells her colleague that is has been very difficult for her to be away from her son at work, when he needs her at home. At this point Slaughter comes up with the idea to write an article about these struggles she and many women are dealing with. Throughout this meeting Slaughter

The Revolution released the potential for America to become very democratic; allowing space for political and social struggles to spread ideas of freedom and challenge the old way of doing things. Ideas of liberty invigorated attacks on both British and domestic American foundations and so did the beliefs of equality in the Declaration of Independence, which caused many in society who were seen as the substandard bunch such as women, slaves and free blacks to question the sanction of their superiors.

Harriet Jacobs’s Incidents in the life of a Slave Girl allows Harriet Jacobs, speaking through the narrator, Linda Brent, to reveal her reasons for making public her personal story of enslavement, degradation, and sexual exploitation. Although originally ignored by critics, who often dismissed Jacobs ' story as a fictional account of slavery, today it is reported as the first novel narrative by an ex-slave that reveals the unique brutalities inflicted on enslaved women. Gabby Reyes

Q. Discuss how many characters describe Sula’s birthmark which looks different to several people in The Bottom. Does the birthmark reflect their fears or dreams? How so?

In her autobiography, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs portrays her detailed life events on such an intense level. Jacobs was born in 1813 in North Carolina. She had a rough life starting at the age of six when her mother died, and soon after that everything started to go downhill, which she explains in her autobiography. Her novel was originally published in 1861, but was later reprinted in 1973 and 1987. Harriet Jacobs presents her story using numerous detailed descriptions of the events and obstacles that she eventually overcame. Jacobs is able to interact with the reader effectively by describing her life struggles as a slave through the use of diction and pathos.

During the twentieth-century stereotypical gender roles were prominent when it came to societal views. The roles of the female were simply to be a wife to her husband and mother to the children. In addition, it was also a familiar practice for women to be confined to the private space of their home. As for the role of men they were seen as the primary supporter of the family for since they were the only one allowed to have an actual occupation in the public realm of politics and business (Merret 3). They brought home the wealth earned and thus were in charge of keeping a roof over their families head. Susan Glaspell the author of a novel titled “A Jury of Her Peers” illustrates the social standards of women’s subjugation while a case involving a murder mystery is in the process of being investigated and solved. Glaspell takes the reader on a journey of not to only tell the story of a murder will out, but to also ensure that women 's subjectivity is not only to the rules of societal standards but also by those of their husbands.

One writer that has discussed some of the problems, challenges, and injustices black females have faced in America is Harriet Jacobs. In her writing From Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, she narrates as Linda Brown, the problems that black females experienced during slavery. She talks about how she was sexually harassed and abused by her slave master and how she struggled to escape from him in order to achieve freedom; for her and for her child. Jacobs addressed this memoir to white women from the North, in order to shed light into the problems of sexual abuse that many female slaves faced on plantations. This experiences made her realize that even though slavery was “terrible for men”, it was “far more terrible for women”, due to the fact that many female slaves were constantly harassed and abused by their masters and could not do anything about it. Jacobs states, “I was compelled to live under the same roof with him-- where I saw a man forty years my senior daily violating the most sacred commandments of nature. He told me I was his property; that I must subject to his will in all things” (231). This demonstrates that black female slaves were put in a situation that, because of slavery, could not escape. Jacobs, like many female slaves, was trapped in a house where she was constantly seeing her abuser and was compelled to stay there. Not only that, but, she had no protection as a female since society is ruled by white men, as well as the fact that she was constantly

Harriet Jacobs, in her narrative, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, was born into slavery in the south. While her youth contained “six years of happy childhood,” a few tragedies and mistresses later, Jacobs spent many years in pain under the possession of her cruel five-year-old mistress, Emily Flint, and Emily’s father, Dr. Flint. Once able to obtain freedom, Jacobs spent most of her life working for the Anti-Slavery office in New York, in hope that one day she could make a difference in the world. “She sought to win the respect and admiration of her readers for the courage with which she forestalled abuse and for the independence with which she chose a lover rather than having one forced on her” (Jacobs 921). Linda Brett, the pseudonym that Jacobs uses to narrate her life story, endures the harsh behavior women slaves were treated with in the south during the nineteenth century. The dominant theme of the corruptive power and psychological abuse of slavery, along with symbolism of good and evil, is demonstrated throughout her narrative to create a story that exposes the terrible captivity woman slaves suffered. The reality of slavery in the past, versus slavery today is used to reveal how the world has changed and grown in the idea of racism and neglect.

Andrea Dworkin, a prominent radical feminist, tries to explain why women fail to put themselves out from where they are: “Women have been taught that, for us, the earth is flat, and that if we venture out, we will fall off the edge.” Women are often conditioned by different factors in their life to stay in their position, especially from societal norms and expectations of them from the men in their lives. However, over time, this could be emotionally and mentally burdensome to a woman’s state of mind, leading them to nowhere. This theme of oppression is prevalent in the feminist short stories titled “A Jury of her Peers”, written by Susan Glaspell, and “Sweat”, written by Zora Neale Hurston. In these works, Glaspell and Hurston elaborate on how powerful female protagonists are able to decide for themselves, but explain their mentally-taxing processes and reasons in accomplishing such a feat. In these short stories, women are able to rise over oppression, but primarily to overcome a grief or insecurity that stems from within and after being pushed to their limits and accustomed to their roles by men.

One of the points that is consistently brought up in Toni Morrison’s Paradise is that of the all black town “Ruby”. Paradise uses the setting of Oklahoma to discuss how many black towns are shaped by past history and religion. While the town in this novel is fictional, there have been real all black towns in the United States, and it seems that these towns influenced many aspects of the town Ruby, which is why it is so easy to imagine that the story could actually be real. Many authors have written in general about the novel, and specifically about the town within it.

There are several ways to look at the poem, Lady Lazarus and one of those ways is that it could be looked at suicide and also about someone who is obviously emotionally troubled with this self-fulfilling satisfaction in killing herself. It’s like a prophecy that needs to be fulfilled and she does so every so often; at least every decade. Also, the poem could be said to be about someone with a severe mental disorder which explains the radical behavior of the suicidal attempts every now and then and she takes pleasure in doing so.

Identity is who a person is or how they see themselves, but is this something they are born with or is it something they learn over time? Can this identity be changed? Or is it permanent once set? Identity is a major theme in Toni Morrison’s Sula. Scholars discuss the different identities that the characters possess, but tend to fail to mention character development or lack of character development. Character development or lack thereof is usually an important literary move in most writing. This development provides a deeper understanding of characters in addition to a deeper understanding of themes throughout the literature. Sula focuses mainly on the lives of Sula and Nel, which makes tracking their character development easier to track and observe their identity and sense of self. Identity is a major, yet easily overlooked theme in Sula.

In the novel The Bluest Eye, authored by Toni Morrison, Morrison brings up many social conflicts that occur throughout the novel. One of the biggest conflicts she brings up within the novel is racism. There are many offsets of racism that occur to many of the characters within the novel. One of the most significant issues or conflicts that branch off from racism is how racism affects and limits the opportunities that minorities have. In Morrison’s novel this type of racism that affects opportunity is directed towards African Americans. Even Tonya Cornileus stated in an article she wrote in the year 2013 that, “Today, African American men are the least likely hired or promoted” (Cornileus 136). This racial discrimination towards African Americans has a major impact on the opportunity they have in the world, just as Morrison portrayed in her novel The Bluest Eye.