The Women of Brewster Place is presents the stories of seven ladies. Each story deals with an individual character, while the last story points out the entire community. In the novel, each character has an individual story to tell to the readers. Their stories reflects the troubles and sufferings of the Black women. Brewster place was an imaginary place created by Gloria Naylor. It was located at the dead end street. Brewster place is separated from the rest of the town by building a huge wall. The novel is set around seven characters who are the women having their residences at Brewster Place. The history of Brewster Place clearly visualizes the community changes in the country with some new historical shift. During the Civil Rights era, Brewster Place inherits its last inhabitants, African-Americans who are the migrants from the South. The novel begins with the long narrative story about Mattie …show more content…
She is the vital character of this novel as well as the first long narrative story is about her to the readers. She raised and lost her child even if she is a motherly figure to all other women in Brewster Place. After experencing hardships, losing a child, went away from parents and home. However, she not lose her courage and stands alone with her own legs. In the beginning of the story, Mattie is depicted as a normal woman with usual emotions of a girl. Her stability and confidence are the moral support for other women such as Etta and Ciel. Her generous heart and deep faith represent the best elements not only of Brewster Place but also of African-American women in common. In many ways, Mattie is the bedrock of the Brewster Place community. When Mattie arrives Brewster Place, she knows that it may be her last place to live. However, she does not lose her confidence and by that knowledge. She continues her life enthusiastically in the best way she knows and also give her arms to everyone who meets
Lydia Darragh was a brave Quaker Housewife living on Second Street when the British occupied Philadelphia on September 26th, 1777. Many major wars were taking place, and they were known as the American Revolution when referred to as one. She supported the war effort and was read out of her meetings because of that support. There is no concrete proof of Darragh’s stories, but a family member brought her memorable actions to life. That member was Darragh’s daughter, Ann, who recounted the story years after it played out. Since Ann’s testimonies have some information that does not fit with other accounts, some historians have dismissed it as a fake tale. The British made Darragh move out of her house so that they could use that area. Lydia wanted to stay because she had two children to take care of. She decided to ask Lord Howe for permission to remain where she was. On her way, she met up with a British officer who surprisingly turned out to be a second cousin, Captain Barrington, from Ireland. Due to Barrington, Darragh was allowed to stay in her home while keeping a room available for British officers to hold meetings. Lydia Darragh carried out many courageous actions to support the Americans in the war.
PARA 2: Miss Eva Turner plays a vital role in Mattie's life by taking her in during her loneliness and destitution and treating Mattie and Basil as if they are her own family.
The new republic of the 1830s-1850s was a society that devalued the role of women. By comparing men and women against each other, giving men a superior status, making their differences more evident, and allowing men to demand more rights, to think and do freely, this society has been created to view women as less than. Women are viewed as the weaker vessel and property to their father, or husband that need to be protected and should be wifely, child bearing, motherly and dedicated to their homes instead of viewing women as their own beings.
In the book, Mattie starts out as a lazy teenager who needs to be told what to do by her over controlling mother, but throughout the story, she becomes more responsible and adult-like. For
Mattie had so many traumatizing events occur in just a few months, yet she stayed strong and fought through the pain day by day. One of these events were when she tried to leave Philadelphia. Her and her grandfather were on a cart leaving Philadelphia, When they got thrown off because they thought that Mattie’s grandpa had Yellow Fever. All of their belongings were on that cart. Now Mattie and her grandfather faced starvation in the middle of nowhere.
The most reasonable idea that allows Mattie to be the protagonist is that she cared for a little girl named Nell even though she was struggling to care for herself. I predict that having Nell in the hands of Mattie, Grandfather dying, and Mother being gone made sense come to Mattie assuring her that caring for others as well as yourself alone is a huge responsibility. This quote shows Mattie’s thought after Grandfather’s death, “No, I could care for myself. I was not a child.” The two character traits that explains how Mattie matured is independent and a hero. She is independent because she was on her own for awhile and had to find food for herself and care for herself. This piece of evidence shows how she was alone with no one to feed or care for her, “I was alone; Grandfather was dead and Mother missing.” She had no one to count on but herself. Mattie being a hero shows a lot of her maturing. This is because she didn’t care for lots of things such as doing chores, but when things changed she realized that other people were in the need of her help like
Mattie is a fourteen year old girl, who has the responsibilities of an adult, which was expected of people that age in this time period. “[Mattie] kept his books for him”(keeping the books means keeping track of the money) said Mattie when she was explaining why she knew how much money her father had (Portis 15). This quote is interesting because it exhibits the amount of responsibility that was put upon her even at a young age. Also, Mattie seems to have the best math skills in her family despite having a mother and father much older than her. Mattie told Yarnell, (who is an African American that works for Mattie's family) “Yarnell said ‘you can't stay in the city by yourself’ [Mattie] said ‘It will be alright’” (Portis 26). Mattie is going to stay in the city by herself without her mom knowing when she will return, or what her sleeping arrangements are. It is strange because she is a young girl in a city alone with nobody to protect her, and her mother has no idea what is going on. Mattie told the sheriff “[I’am] looking for the man who shot and killed my father” (Poti 59). Mattie is not asking the sheriff to find the man and bring him to
During the late 1800’s, American women were treated poorly and unequal to men because of their marriage rights, lack of women’s rights, and their rights in the workforce. Women who stayed in intimate relationships were treated poorly and were viewed as diseased and masochistic, according to Carolyn B Ramsey. She also said that the wives’ had to assume ignorance of their husbands’ affairs with the slave women. Ramsey’s article summarizes about the myth that explains how in the late 1800’s state’s intervention in intimate relationships to protect abused women and punish violent men turned into an article of apathy and discrimination that women’s advocates criticize.
Matilda Cook is an adventurous and independence seeking 14-year old girl. Although she always being pestered by her mother, Mattie loves her mother dearly and worries when her mother does not return home after going the the Luddington’s farm. Mattie struggle with
Kathleen review of how Mattie takes Lucielia in her arm and begins to rock her as a mother would rock a child that is unable to be comfored in any other manner. I can hear the cadence of my mentor stating get an education it can’t be taken away from you, you will be able to make a future for you and your children and no one will be able to take that away. “Mattie offers the soothing power of words and the water of symbolic baptism, Puhr (103-104), the baptism comes after the commission of an unforgivable sin of the abortion of her unborn child and the taking of the only one in her life that loved her unconditionally. The purging of all the wrong one has done, is demonstrated in the rocking of Mattie’s arms. The sin being represented by the
Mattie is the older character in this book that was owned “Jesus is Lord Tires” and was a character that acted as a mother to multiple characters. “She looked at me the way Mama would have,” (Kingsolver 252). This quote was found near the end of the book that signified Mattie looking at Taylor and Taylor observing that look and thinking that it is similar to her real mother’s. Mattie gave some money to Taylor for the trip and Taylor refused to take it, so Mattie said that it was for everyone in the car and gave her the look that reminded Taylor of her biological mother. “’I’ve got some peanut butter crackers,’ Mattie said leaning over Turtle. ‘Will she eat peanut butter?’,” (Kingsolver 252). Mattie seemed worried about Turtle and offered her something to eat. She acted as a mother figure to Turtle because she fed her and gave her more food when Turtle hinted for it. Mattie was the one that fit as a mother figure to a lot of characters in the book. She was the person that led a sanctuary and was the one who took care of the many.
Nell gives Mattie a new purpose in the story, she helps Mattie find a new kind of strength in herself and is a distraction to all she has lost. Nell helps Mattie just as much as Mattie helps Nell. Through her suffering she is still able to mother a little girl and help and care for the sick. ”The sights and smells of Eliza’s patients were no worse than Bush Hill, but I was not prepared for the heartache. Walking into the homes of strangers, sitting on their furniture, and drying the tears of their children was harder than cleaning up the sick.
What is a good relationship? Many people get asked this question every day and there are many different answers. Throughout history love and lust has been a very interesting topic to write about or in portraying in writings. Two stories that portray love in a different light, that are intriguing, is “The Boarding House” by James Joyce and "Women Hollering Creek" by Sandra Cisneros. These so-called love stories’ main theme is disillusionment. “The Boarding House” and “Women Hollering Creek” both have a conflict, thematic development, and the epiphanies.
Paid work for women moved from principally customary female-situated employments to all the more non-conventional and already male-arranged vocations. Ladies ' support in the workforce prompted them to start careers in the field dominated by male in the 20th century. Career yearnings were affected by elements, such as sexual orientation, financial status, race, occupation and instruction level, and parental desires. This paper exhibits how women developed, changed and the challenges they faced in the 20th century in America in the workforce and the advancement of ladies ' careers, improvement and profession goals during the 20th century in United States. Also, gender issues affecting women will be discussed in details during this period and how women played their role in fighting for their rights.
All characters in the novel are living in a man’s world; nevertheless, the author has tried to change this world by the help of her characters. She shows a myriad of opportunities and different paths of life that woman can take, and more importantly she does not show a perfect world, where women get everything they want, she shows a world where woman do make mistakes, but at the same time they are the ones that pay for these mistakes and correct them.