“Dream Children” makes the reader want to dig deeper and discover the truth behind Mrs. McNair. When reading the story, the reader questions whether she is sane or insane. Overall, the reader could come to the conclusion that she is indeed a sane woman. Through the evidence given by Gail Godwin, the author, and the few clues that portray throughout the tale, the reader can see that Mrs. McNair is just as sane as the other two women mentioned in the tale; Mrs. DePuy and Mrs. Frye. The first piece of evidence that Mrs. McNair isn’t insane, “The worst thing. Such a terrible thing to happen to a young woman. It’s a wonder she didn’t go mad” (Godwin 515). The very first sentence that begins the short story has stated that Mrs. McNair did not go mad. She remained sane even though she experienced a terrible tragedy that should’ve had any woman go mad. Mrs. McNair is considered “a cheerful, neat young woman, a wife” (515) and yet nobody knows about her experience. Nobody knew anything about her and her husband’s past considering that they had just moved into the Dutch farmhouse a year prior. Even though Mrs. McNair struggles with the world around her, she finds means of escape through simple activities such as reading, horseback riding, or simply running errands while her husband is working in the city. Mr. and Mrs. DePuy would watch her ride her stallion …show more content…
McNair about a doctor who practiced obstetrics. She spoke on how a woman in her forties shouldn’t have children because of how they appear when they are born. Just before she’s able to explain the child’s appearance to Mrs. McNair, who is engrossed in the tale, she is stopped by Mr. McNair. He was angry with Victoria for speaking of such things even though she wasn’t aware of their past. Mr. McNair tells his wife to take Blue Boy, their dog, outside as he worries for her. She pleads with her husband that she’s okay and that she likes Victoria’s
At the same time, however, Janie begins to confuse this desire with romance. Despite the fact that nature’s “love embrace” leaves her feeling “limp and languid,” she pursues the first thing she sees that appears to satisfy her desire: a young man named Johnny Taylor (Hurston 11). Leaning over the gate’s threshold to kiss Johnny, Janie takes the first step toward her newfound horizon. Nanny sees this kiss and declares Janie’s womanhood. She wants Janie to marry Logan Killicks, a financially secure and well-respected farmer who can protect her from corruption. The marriage of convenience that Nanny suggests is “desecrating … [Janie’s] pear tree” because it contradicts her ideal vision of love (Hurston 14). Because she did not have the strength to fight people in her youth, Janie’s grandmother believes that Janie needs to rely on a husband in order to stay safe and reach liberation. Ironically, Janie’s adherence to Nanny’s last request suppresses her even more because it causes her to leave behind her own horizon.
Have you ever had a dream that you have been really committed to? Has something or someone ever stopped you short of that or any dream of yours? These questions are quite relevant to the main characters in the selections Of Mice and Men and “Only Daughter”. Of Mice and Men is a well-known story by John Steinbeck that tells the tale of two travel companions, George Milton and Lennie Small, as they dream and work hard to gain a small piece of land for themselves during The Great Depression, a harsh financial time. “Only Daughter” is an autobiographical essay by Sandra Cisneros about her struggles on trying to bond with her father while being impeded by her six brothers. The two selections’ main dreams are both corresponding and distinct in various ways. The dreams are also very substantial to the one who holds it. George and Lennie’s dream, in Of Mice and Men, influenced their lifestyle, behavior, and relationship between them. Sandra Cisneros’s dream, from “Only Daughter”, had an impact on the topic of her writing, her writing style, and her relationship with her father, who she has been trying to gain the approval for her writing career for many years.
When Janie was about sixteen, she spent a spring afternoon under a blossoming tree in Nanny?s yard. Here she comes to the realization that something is missing in her life? sexual ecstasy. The blooms, the new leaves and the virgin- like spring came to life all around her. She wondered when and where she might find such an ecstasy herself. According to Hurston, Nanny finds Janie kissing a boy named Johnny Taylor and her ?head and face looked like the standing roots of some old tree that had been torn away by storm? (12) . Nanny can think of no better way to protect Janie than by marrying her to a middle-aged black farmer whose prosperity makes it unnecessary for him to use her as a ?mule? (Bush 1036).
In the book “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, there were characters whose dreams were stated, some of which were shattered by greed and misfortune and others which would eventually come to be true. The first dream that came about was Walter’s dream of one day owning and maintaining a liquor store. He would do anything to attempt to get his dream to come true, but his mama wanted anything but that to happen. His mama had a dream of her own though, she dreamed of one day owning her own house, where her whole family could stay comfortably. She dreamed this because in the apartment that she resided in was too small, and dumpy, as Ruth called it. Her grandson Travis had to sleep on the couch, and all
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.
Mrs. McIntyre allows the priest to have unwarranted control of her because of her desire to preserve her farm. This allows him to persuade Mrs. McIntyre to do the unthinkable. She hires Mr. Guizac, a displaced person. Nothing could have caused a bigger change on her farm. He and his family come from Poland and bring with him many different cultural ideas. Normally, Mrs. McIntyre would never have undertaken such a drastic change. But because the priest is able to convince her that it will be best for the farm, she concedes. Soon, he comes to visit her regularly, attempting to both convert her and persuade her to bring yet another Polish family onto her farm. Mrs. McIntyre, who has heretofore been dependent only on herself for survival, has now come to trust the priest and turns to him for advice. She seeks his council about what to do about the possibility of the Guizacs leaving her because she cannot pay them enough. He responds, " 'Arrrr, give them some morrre then. They have to get along.' " (219). Mrs. McIntyre follows his advice, betraying her only friend, Mrs. Shortley, as well as planning to fire the best family she has ever employed. She soon discovers what an awful mistake this was.
Mallard is unsatisfied with the limitations of her marriage, however, like Desiree, she is submissive and believes that the end of her duties as a wife will come at the death of her husband and her freedom will be given to her. Also, she experiences little or no feelings because of her marriage. This is shown when Mrs. Mallard, after hearing of her husband’s death, cries, but ironically she senses a moment of euphoric pleasure at the awaiting freedom in her remaining life. “She saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely.” Mrs. Millard is now aware of things that were not noticeable before such as: the beginning of spring, patches of blue sky through clouds, the twittering of sparrows and the smelling of the pending rain, which may signify the nature of her freedom. Mrs. Mallard would now be able to live her life outside the home and find her identity.
The narrator says, “ She was plotting now to get me to stay in the house more, although she knew I hated it and keep me from working for my father.(pg. 307) This statement is describing how important these roles were to the manipulative parental figures in her life. The father did not believe in the stereotypical women roles, which lead to him making her a hired man. During the winter, the family keeps and kills two horses to feed the foxes with horse meat. The name of the horses was Mack and Flora, which were a single female and male horse. Mack was the male horse who was characterized as a old black workhouse, sooty, and indifferent. (pg. 308) This statement describes how the stereotypical male in society should be like in the 1960 's. The male should have the characteristics of workhorse in the field of working in the 1960 's. Flora was a female who was characterized as an sorrel mare, a driver.(pg. 308) This statement describes how dominant she was a female horse. In contrast, the female women was not the dominant gender in the 1960 's , because of the limitations and lack of opportunities created by the predominantly gender of males. The narrator says, “ the word girl had formerly seemed to me
However, during these such obstacles she also finds herself and creates a voice of her own. Growing up Janie had a different lifestyle than most african Americans, she grew up believing that she was indeed white. Although she was raised by her grandmother, which she knew as nanny she lived with a family of whites and was treated as one of them.Janie was given a hard time at school because of this her nanny decided it was time to move out. The turning point in Janie 's life occurred when Nanny caught her kissing a boy; Nanny was disappointed because she wanted Janie to be better than what her mother and herself had become. Nanny knowing that she was going to die soon set up an arranged marriage with an older man who was interested in Janie. Janie only being 14 and in desperate search for love hated the thought of her soon to be husband, but she thought that when two people got married they automatically fell in love with each other. She soon discovers that is not what happens. Janie runs away to discover herself, in spite of her self awareness she also finds herself running off with a younger man abandoning her safe home and husband for something in which she does not know how it will play out.
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.
When the people of the town try to explain away her odd behavior, they "did not say she was crazy then" (paragraph 28). This implies that although at that time she wasn't considered insane, and although the narrator never states so directly, there will come a time when she will be.
The background of the story gives us the idea of what Mrs. Mallard’s marriage meant to her. We see a picture of a young well-to-do wife who seems to be very pleased with her life. We also get the impression that she was deeply in love with her husband.
Stephen King’s “Harvey’s Dream” is a fictional short story about a woman, Janet, who thinks her life is dull, thin, and lackluster. She believes her life has no life in it, and she fears her husband, whom she has had 3 children with and a very long marriage, will eventually grow old, lazy, and inevitably boring. Janet watches her husband, Harvey, sit at the table in their home and go about his usual Sunday morning, and she wishes her life would become thick and eventful. Then, he surprises her by saying he had a nightmare. Janet cannot recall the last time Harvey had a nightmare, and she instantly becomes interested. He tells his ominous dream, and Janet grows
In the first few paragraphs of the story, the narrator makes a point of rejecting the idea that he is mad. It almost seems as if he goes out of his way to reassure readers that he is indeed sane. It was at this point that I first got an inclination that the narrator was unreliable, either because he is insane, or just lying. The average person who
Through the mother, we see that dreaming may lead to a painful disappointment. The mother has an unrealistic image of her and her future husband as an idyllic, respectable and happy couple, which is not true in reality. “… avoiding the riotous amusements being beneath the dignity of so dignified couple”. She is trying to make an image of herself as an intelligent, domestic and interesting woman, which shows