Summary Of Joann Murray 's ' Someone 's Mother '

Two more pertinent points are made by the author, in regards to the grandmother, follow in quick succession; both allude to further yet-to-be seen gloom within the story. O’Connor writes of the grandmother “[s]he didn’t intend for the cat to be left alone in the house for three days because he would miss her too much and she was afraid he might brush against one of the gas burners and accidentally asphyxiate himself” (1043) and of the way she is dressed “[i]n case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady” (1043). These two observations are innocent enough on the surface but provide true intent on the foreshadowing that O’Connor uses throughout the story. It is these two devices, irony and foreshadowing, that I feel are prominent and important aspects of the story and are evidenced in my quest to decipher this story.

O’Connor describes the children’s mother in contrast to the grandmother by what they are wearing; thus their clothes represent the age from which they are. The Children’s mother “still had on slacks and still had her head tied up in a green kerchief, but the grandmother had on navy blue straw sailor hat with a bunch of white dot in the print”(O’Connor 118). The children’s mother is representative of the New South in which the Southern Lady is becoming less of a central figure within society. A lady of the old south would never wear slacks and tie her hair up in a kerchief to go out in public. Under an old south mentality these actions would be considered very unlady like. O’Connor illustrates the tension between the old and the new south by the constant struggle between the grandmother, her son, and the daughter-in-law.

Hancock is not grounded in physicality like Charlotte 's mom, rather she explores the world of emotions. She is not caught up or concerned by superficial tangibility and shows Charlotte the world beyond her mom’s corporeality. Miss. Hancock and Charlotte’s mother serves as a juxtaposition to each other, and illustrate the polarizing influences on Charlotte.

Her Mother seemed to be more put together than her father at times, even getting a job at one point helping the family out. Though her mother was a hedonist and did not contain the motherly love and sacrifice for her kids, this job helped Jeanette’s future. She helped grade papers which increased her knowledge of the outside world and “...the world was making a little more sense” as she read the papers and projects of her mother’s students (Walls 205). Her parents had such an opposition to the outside world that she hadn’t gotten every aspect of

"The Mother," by Gwendolyn Brooks, is a sorrowful, distressing poem about a mother who has experienced numerous abortions. While reading the poem, you can feel the pain, heartache, distress and grief she is feeling. She is both remorseful and regretful; nevertheless, she explains that she had no other alternative. It is a sentimental and heart wrenching poem where she talks about not being able to experience or do things with the children that she aborted -- things that people who have children often take for granted. Perhaps this poem is a reflection of what many women in society are feeling.

     In "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall," Katherine Anne Porter gives readers a glimpse of the thoughts of a woman about to die.  Lying in her bed in her daughter Cornelia's house, eighty-year-old Granny Weatherall drifts in and out of consciousness.  Through her thoughts of events both current and bygone, it is learned that Granny has worked hard all her life, and frequently tells herself that she did a good job.  She thinks of events that made her stronger: digging holes for fence posts, "riding country roads in the winter when women had their babies" (311), taking care of sick animals and sick children.  Though Granny Weatherall tries to assure herself that her life has been

As the women walk through the house, they begin to get a feel for what Mrs. Wright’s life is like. They notice things like the limited kitchen space, the broken stove, and the broken jars of fruit and begin to realize the day-to-day struggles that Mrs. Wright endured. The entire house has a solemn, depressing atmosphere. Mrs. Hale regretfully comments that, for this reason and the fact that Mr. Wright is a difficult man to be around, she never came to visit her old friend, Mrs. Wright.

“My mother and I were separated when I was but an infant—before I knew her as my mother. It is a common custom, in the part of Maryland from which I ran away, to part children from their mothers at a very early age…I never saw my mother, to know her as such, more than four or five times in my life; and each of these times was very short in duration, and at night.”

“Where’d You Go, Bernadette?” by Maria Semple is a novel about an eerie woman who has a daughter and a husband. She seems to be a mysterious individual at the beginning, but as the story goes through, you find out why she is acting that way. She ends up escaping and leaving her family; nonetheless, at the end they come together again. Maria Semple loves to compare family’s issues because in the book she writes about how the characters interact with one another. Although, Semple seems to be a sophisticated author, the role of mother in WDYB is the most significant topic to analyze throughout the story. In this novel, there are several mothers who are valuable examples of the different types of mothers.

Janie’s journey sets off when her grandmother, Nanny, insists she marries Logan Killicks, a man twice her age. Because Nanny’s experience with slavery, her worldview has been about financial security for Janie. Like all elders they hope that their children and grandchildren have protection and stability so they can ease. “Tain’t Logan Killicks Ah wants you to have, baby, it’s protection… (Hurston 15)”. With Janie rebellious young age, she does not realize what her grandmother went through. Janie knew she had to obey her grandmother so she can give her Nanny assurance that she would be taken care of before she dies. But not long after the Nanny’s death, Logan Killicks starts to treat her like a “mule” a free work of labor. Because of Janie status she ought to speak for herself.

The short story, "A Dead Woman 's Secret," is about a mother who just passed away. Her children, who became successful adults because of mother 's love and nurture, kneeled down beside her bed. The thought of letting her go was terrifying, so they decided to read her old letters. The first few stocks of letters brought a lot of positive emotions and brightened up their mood. As they dug further down through the letters, they learned the truth that absolutely destroyed the image of a perfect mother that they had on their mind ever since the childhood. They found love letters from a man they never heard of. Mother 's secret was extremely disappointing to handle, so they left her alone in a darkened room. The story demonstrates how people 's perspective of others ' can change in a single moment because of an insignificant secret that floated after drowning in tears for decades.

In both “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and “A Rose for Emily,” the authors portray primary female leads which depict many typical and sometimes stereotypical, Southern ideals and values. In “A Good Man is Hard to Find, “the lead character, the Grandmother, epitomizes the stereotype of an elderly southern woman. O’Connor skillfully conveys the Grandmother’s superficiality by describing the over-the-top outfit she wears on the day of the trip, writing, “Her collars and cuffs were white organdy trimmed with lace and at her neckline she had pinned a purple spray of cloth violets containing a sachet. In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady” (406). The Grandmother assigns value to being a “lady” among all other virtues, placing the physical appearance of herself and others of the utmost importance. The grandmother is also nostalgic of the past, and constantly reminisces about the

Finally, the reader is introduced to the character around whom the story is centered, the accursed murderess, Mrs. Wright. She is depicted to be a person of great life and vitality in her younger years, yet her life as Mrs. Wright is portrayed as one of grim sameness, maintaining a humorless daily grind, devoid of life as one regards it in a normal social sense. Although it is clear to the reader that Mrs. Wright is indeed the culprit, she is portrayed sympathetically because of that very lack of normalcy in her daily routine. Where she was once a girl of fun and laughter, it is clear that over the years she has been forced into a reclusive shell by a marriage to a man who has been singularly oppressive. It is equally clear that she finally was brought to her personal breaking point, dealing with her situation in a manner that was at once final and yet inconclusive, depending on the outcome of the legal investigation. It is notable that regardless of the outcome, Mrs. Wright had finally realized a state of peace within herself, a state which had been denied her for the duration of her relationship with the deceased.

In a world in which abortion is considered either a woman's right or a sin against God, the poem "The Mother" by Gwendolyn Brooks gives a voice to a mother lamenting her aborted children through three stanzas in which a warning is given to mothers, an admission of guilt is made, and an apology to the dead is given. The poet-speaker, the mother, as part of her memory addresses the children that she "got that [she] did not get" (2). The shift in voice from stanza to stanza allows Brooks to capture the grief associated with an abortion by not condemning her actions, nor excusing them; she merely grieves for what might have been. The narrator's longing and regret over the children she will never have is highlighted by the change in tone

A strong foreshadowing imagery can be read into these lines. Knowing the definite ending of the story, the grandmother?s elaborate dress symbolizes a preparation for her coffin. When a person dies, they usually are dressed in their best outfit, just like the grandmother was dressed in what seemed to be her Sunday best. A stronger foreshadowing is when O?Connor states the reason for the grandmother?s immaculate dress, "in case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady." She herself predicts her own death. Unfortunately, she doesn?t know this yet. Although this is beyond the parameters of this essay, it is interesting that in the grandmother's mind wearing her best clothes prevent any misgivings about her status as a lady IF she was to die. But as the Misfit later points out, "there never was a body that gave the undertaker a tip." The grandmother's perceived readiness for death is a stark contrast to her behavior when she encounters the Misfit; for she shows herself to be the least prepared for death.