Theme Of Summer Sunshine By Olive Senior

The book goes through Jeannette’s life exposing the mistakes she, her siblings, and her parents made to become the family they were. As her life grows older, Jeannette finds herself in more responsible positions in the world, with editing school newspapers, to writing columns in a small New York newspaper outlet. Her troubles have raised the issue of stereotyping, a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. Due to her status in her childhood, it was not hard for her to fit in with the other members of the poor community. “Dinitia explained that I was with her and that I was good people. The women looked at one another and shrugged.” (Walls 191) The quote talks about how members of the black community in Welch accepted Jeannette to go swimming with them in the morning hours before the white people went in the afternoon. The people who knew Dinita, Jeannette’s friend, knew that Dinita was trustworthy, and let Jeannette pass. This relates to the thesis because it shows how she was accepted amongst the people who were

The main character is sent by his father to stay with his grandmother. This is where you learn that the strong heart runs in the family. This is true because she is a seventy-eight year old woman and will still patch out two acres of corn and make enough bread for the winter to do what she can to keep her family feed.  In her old age she hasn’t kept the best health. Some days she is too sick to get out of the bed. The main character takes care of her he cooks all the meals for her and helps her start to feel better. Living with her he hears stories of his father and how he is an honest man. Also his grandmother tells him about his grandfather and all the great things he would do.  Living with his grandmother is a great experience for the main character because she brings him history of his family and teaches him many things on how to live a content life.

Examining “Claims” on another lever, one finds messages speaking out against the portrayal of a good woman in Puerto Rican societies. Women are expected to sacrifice every aspect of their own lives for their husbands and children. The Grandmother accepted her role in society, but always had dreams of claiming her own life. “Grandmother” made a promise when she was married, and she kept her promise. She raised five children and led a life committed to a husband who was expected by society to wander. But all along, Grandmother had dreamed of the day when she could secure her freedom. She dreamed of sleeping in her own bed and simply being herself. Her dream is finally realized in old age, as described in the poem. Grandmother “claimed the right” to be herself and live her life. Her days were constantly occupied by caring for her children and her nights were always invaded by her husband’s presence. Now that her family has all moved on, Grandmother has her house and her life for herself. Each right that she has claimed has multiple meanings about her life and society, her dreams and true personality.

The grandmother is portrayed as being a selfish self-involved woman who wants her way, a person with little memory, just a basic old woman living with her only son. The Misfit on the other hand is a man who feels he has done no wrong, but has just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, but in the end comes too close to the truth, which scares him.

Grandma is a comedy-drama film that follows the life of Elle, a lesbian poet, who was married for 38 years, but then became a widow. Elle’s granddaughter, Sage, comes to her asking for $630 for an abortion as she is broke, although Elle doesn’t have any money either. Sage was too afraid to tell her judgemental mother about her situation, in which resorted to her having to ask her Grandma. Elle had a short-term girlfriend, Olivia, of 5 months, but ended things with her very abruptly. Even though Elle doesn’t have the money for Sage, she is determined to go out and get it. The movie is split up into 6 chapters, set over the course of one day, as Sage had booked the abortion for that evening. Elle and Sage go and get money of as many people as Elle could think of, but by the end of their journey, they still don’t have enough and end up having to tell Sage’s mother. Sage’s mother is angry and disappointed as they had expected but she gives the money and they go to the clinic, Sage gets the abortion and Sage and her mother have an argument but are happier afterwards. Elle goes to resolve things with Olivia, and the end on better terms. This film shows themes of LGBT+ acceptance and the importance of family. There are also major contrasts between characters which are vital to the film.

Themes of Family togetherness and love are illustrated through the article “Girl” written by Jamaica Kincaid. Throughout the text Western Caribbean familial practices are discussed. Upon closer examination, the reader is presented with a series of images demonstrating customary cultural practices and moral principles that a Caribbean woman passes along to her young daughter. In the Case of Jamaica Kincaid, she has been influenced by common advice she received from her elders, in attempts to make the life ahead of her easier. In fact, the insight given is hoped to deflect her from bringing shame amongst the family. Moreover, the advices she receives from particularly her mother, are a mother's way of insuring that her daughter has the tools that she needs to survive as an adult in society. Inclusively, the fact that the mother takes the time to train her daughter on the proper ways for a lady to act in their culture is indicative of their familial love. The article "the girl" illustrates themes of familial love, cultural customs, and maternal bond through the eyes of a young black female growing up in the island of Antigua in a quasi society.

In the short story “All Summer in a Day”, the author Ray Bradbury uses sensory imagery such as sight and sound to describe the setting of his version of planet Venus and to describe the children. He then uses the absence of sensory imagery when describing Margot to create contrast which helps us understand the idea that people who are different are ostracised and hated.

Elaine Potter Richardson, more famously known as Jamaica Kincaid, is recognized for her writings that suggest depictions of relationships between families, mainly between a mother and daughter, and her birth place, Antigua, an island located in the West Indies. She is also familiarized with Afrocentrism and feminist point of views. Kincaid’s work is filled heavily with visual imagery that produces a mental picture in readers that helps them connect stronger to the reading. An example of this really shines through in her short story piece, “Girl.” This short story describes the life of a lower class woman living in the West Indies, and also incorporates thick detailing between the relationship between her and her mother. Jamaica Kincaid structures the story as if her mother is speaking to her. She writes broad, but straight to the point, allowing readers to imagine to picture her experience. Kincaid uses visual imagery and repetition consistently throughout “Girl” to reveal the theme and tone of the story; conflictual affair between a mother and daughter.

After riding along a little further, the family is involved in a car accident. The main reason that the family is involved in the car accident is due to the grandmother. The grandmother remembers a mansion that she visits as a young girl. She is eager to go, because she wants the children to see how she grew up. This further states how the grandmother social class, because she lived in a mansion. During the time of the grandmother’s life, only plantation owners and their family lived in mansions. This also stressed the social class of the grandmother, because you can tell from this that the

The second theme exhibited by the grandmother is her class and racial prejudice, as most characters in southern gothic stories do. The grandmother exudes a sense of self-righteousness that she explains is imbedded in her because she came from a good family. Throughout “A Good Man is Hard to Find” descriptions of the south come up often. Most of the images are portrayed when the grandmother is reminiscing about “In my time” and on the “plantation” (114). Her insistent attitude and obsession about visiting the plantation shows the grandmother truly enjoyed that time period and implies she had no problem with the racial segregation in that era. She remembers back to when she was a young girl and Mr. Edgar Atkins Teagarden would bring her watermelon. “but she never got the watermelon”, “ because a nigger boy ate it when he saw the initials E.A.T.!” (115). It is clear the grandmother feels it is appropriate to use the N word when referring to African Americans, even years after slavery era. As the grandmother glamorizes Negroes and life on the plantation, it is clear she admired the ways of the Old South, a true characteristics of Southern Gothic writing. Her stereotypical character projects a prejudice that leaves the audience uncomfortable throughout the story.

This theme of social facade and hypocrisy is seen throughout The Jilting of Granny Weatherall in the character of the grandmother. For example, the grandmother had an illegitimate child,

A literal interpretation of the grandmother portrays an elderly southern woman attempting to maintain the proper and genteel values of the South. The grandmother places great importance on her appearance and the opinions of others. This importance is revealed at the beginning of their journey when the story compares the grandmother, a reflection of the past, to the daughter-in-law, a reflection of the present:

Divides within families emerge as result of several factors, leading to familial misreadings among members, ultimately resulting in a superimposed misinterpretation over families, damaging relationships. In “To Da-Duh, In Memorium” by Paule Marshall, the cultural differences, a lack of familiarity and lack of faith in the other’s world and its values, and age difference cause the narrator and the character Da-Duh (the narrator’s grandmother) to misread one another, undermining their relationship. The narrator and Da-Duh had cultural divisions that undermined their familial ties and bond. The cultural divisions illustrated differences between the narrator’s way of life in New York and Da-Duh’s life in Barbados.

An unconventional relationship between a grandfather and granddaughter linked with murder, deep strung emotions and change, only briefly describes the different happenings of the book The Third Life of Grange Copeland, by Alice Walker. The novel reads like a soap opera moving from one violent dysfunctional generation of a family to the next. The book comes to show the development of a relationship between Grange Copeland and his granddaughter, Ruth. Through the growth of their relationship it can be seen that people have the ability to change and that they can break free from social constraints. The relationship that Grange and Ruth has is multi-faceted and both of them learn and benefit from

Summer Solstice is said to have been set during the 1850’s. In the Philippines, the country of its setting, this was the time when the country was under the Spaniards. A patriarchal society is illustrated since the men only have privileges such as education, politics and the like while the women are staying at home and are taught of only cooking, taking care of children. In lieu with this, it can be said that the female characters in Summer Solstice, established a movement towards women empowerment.