Why Do You Think Marguerite Lies In Court?

The story of Jeannette Walls begins one cold March evening when she comes across a homeless woman, which is then revealed to be her mother. It is there that her troubled past comes into light in, “The Glass Castle”. But through her disastrous childhood and dysfunctional family, she manages to turn it around and and by education, expectation, and most of all environment, Jeannette grew from her experiences and came out successful and stronger than ever.

Momma also showed Marguerite how to be independent and strong. Momma is a very strong and independent woman, she ran a store all by herself, she was financially stable, and had more money than the “powhitetrash” (28). Marguerite saw the strength and power that Momma

Harlan Granger was a well respected white man who owned vast amounts of land in Mississippi during the Great Depression (1933). Although Mr. Granger owned so much land, he still wanted the 400 acres that the Logan's owned. Nevertheless, he was a greedy man who would do anything to regain possession of his land. To be greedy (greed) is “an intense or selfish desire for something, especially wealth, power, or food” (Macmillan) There were three incidents in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry that depicted Mr. Granger’s greed.

In the beginning of the novel, Black introduces the concept of beauty, or lack thereof, through Emma Jean’s childhood. Emma Jean’s mother, Mae Helen clearly has a set image of what a beautiful black child should look like. Mae Helen believes that two of her three daughters are beautiful, but believes that Emma Jean is not and wishes that she would have named Emma Jean “Nobody” (20). She calls Emma Jean ugly directly to her faces and proceeds to mentally and physically abuse her throughout her childhood. To add insult to the abuse, Emma Jean watches as her sisters, who her mother believes are more beautiful, get treated with love and respect. The root Mae Helen’s hatred for Emma Jean is her skin tone. Mae Helen chose her male suitors based on the lightness of their skin, and once Emma Jean was not as white as her father Mae Helen instantly disliked her. Black is commenting on the societal ideal that whiteness is equitable to beauty. This preference is displayed when Emma Jean is thinking about why her mother

8. How are the background characters such as the young lovers and the lady in black at the shore, significant in Edna 's story?The young lovers represent the love supported by the society Edna lives in, and the lady in black represents what society expects of a woman after her husband has passed. 9. In detail, explain how the flashbacks to Edna 's past function. How does her father compare to the other men in her life?The flashbacks show a time where she was really happy and talks about a time where she remembers just being a little girl and running through a large green field so she wouldn’t have to go to church, besides that she was a carefree person back then. Her father is different because he states his opinion about her actions instead of keeping quiet and he is more controlling. 10. How does the view of romantic love develop in the course of the novel? What is the doctor 's view of marriage and childbearing?The doctors view of marriage and childbearing is that that is what makes a happy family, and the romantic loves develops in person and goes on through Roberts letters to Mademoiselle Reisz 11. Can you think of an emotional attachment and/or a romantic obsession you have studied in a previous work? How does that incident or character compare with Edna 's emotional and romantic relationships?In Romeo and Juliet’s love in their story. Their relationship is similar to Edna’s and Roberts because they love each

Chang’s writing is focused upon from the view of a sociocultural standpoint, with discovering the internal ideas beneath beauty from the external appearance. It included an experiment with nearly 500 Asian American female participants who took part in a questionnaire package regarding both one’s personal beliefs as well as on social relations with Caucasian-American women. The results of this showed that, there are little to none ethnic group differences in the internalization of the dominant White beauty standards among Asian American women. Despite the lack in differences, the findings made contributions by showing the importance of racial identity and beauty standards in Asian American women’s body image development and psychological well-being.

Marguerite needed to develop as a person to become the next Countess of Flanders, by doing this, she needed to undermine the social norms for women at that time. Marguerite was extremely opinionated, she enjoyed doing activities classified as 'just boys things' and she constantly disregarded her father's opinions and decisions for her. It quickly became evident that Marguerite was not an ordinary girl in this era.

Marguerite’s physical appearance itself is representative of stereotypical beauty admired in woman. She is described as a tall actress with auburn hair and blue eyes, a childlike mouth and a

Mrs. Flowers actions are like a lifeline to Marguerite because Mrs. Flowers helps Marguerite find her identity. On page 233 it say, “I was liked, and what a differance it made. I was respected not a Mrs. Henderson’s grandchildren or Bailey’s sister but for just being Marguerite Johnson.” This means Marguerite discovers that she can be liked for just being herself and not anyone else. On page 233, Mrs. Flowers says, “‘There’s one more thing. Take this book of poems and memorize one for me. Next time you pay me a visit, I want you to recite.’” This means Mrs. Flowers helps Marguerite find her identity to speak aloud to other people instead of being

Once returning to Stamps, silent and traumatized, Marguerite meets Mrs. Bertha Flowers. Marguerite discusses her as “the aristocrat of Black Stamps.” (93) Marguerite looks up to Mrs. Flowers in many ways. She is beautiful and sophisticated and according to Marguerite, Mrs. Flowers “has remained throughout my life the measure of what a human being can be.” (94) Mrs. Flowers took Marguerite under her wing and into her home. She shared her books with her and allowed Marguerite to read from them, spend time with her, enjoy cookies, and lemonade, all while bringing her back from her silent ways after her rape. She encouraged Marguerite to be “intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy” as not everyone had the ability or luxury to become educated. (99) Marguerite was in awe of

To Jean being beautiful is following societies standards of being a beautiful “blonde”. Achieving this beauty ‘standard’ Jean goes through the troubles of lying, being jealous and doubting her own self. She never truly believes herself at one point that she is already pretty and just sets the blonde wig as the goal. This is important because Jean never thinks about other girls who are darked hair and

The grandmother’s bigotry is also on display as the family rides past a black youth standing near his modest home. Her reaction to seeing him is like walking past an adorable dog; “Oh look at the cute little pickaninny!” (12). When her granddaughter June Starr comments on the boy’s lack of clothing, the grandmother explains that “little niggers in the country don’t have things like we do” (12). As the grandmother emits racism through her comments, she is also inserting such notion into her grandchildren’s minds. Nor Bailey or his wife says anything, so it can be suggested that they are used to such comments and may hold the same views as well. The grandmother does not see a reason to be empathetic; the boy waves and she does return the gesture. Instead she romanticizes the boy’s plight as a missed opportunity, suggesting that “If [she] could paint, [she’d] paint that picture” (12).

Mrs.Flowers actions are like a lifeline for the silent child, Magruerite, because Mrs.Flowers gave her attention and love. An example from the story would be that Marguerite said, “ i was liked and what a difference it made. I was respected not as Mrs.Hendersons grandchild or Baileys sister but for just being Marguerite Johnson.” This shows that Marguerite made her feel special because at the beginning of the story she said she felt like an old biscuit now she feels liked and respected. Another detail is towards the end of the story Marguerite said, “ it was enough to prove that she liked me.” Margurite feels loved and respected after Mrs.Flowers spent time with her.

The mother/daughter relationship between Mrs. MacTeer and her two daughters, Claudia and Frieda, is loving and strong. They are taught their own self-worth through their mother’s strength and example, although this love isn’t fully appreciated by the girls until they are older. During Claudia’s illness, she is treated with a mixture of concern and anger. Although Claudia is scolded and her mother complains of cleaning her vomit, at the same time her mother is nursing her, giving her medicine, and checking on her throughout the night. Claudia discovers later that her mother’s anger is not directed at her, but at the world, as she must raise her black family in a world ruled by white culture. She protects her children and equips them for survival in a hostile environment.

For decades there has been an ongoing discussion on society’s standards of beauty and what makes someone beautiful. In Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye she challenges white standards of beauty. Just like today, the society in Loraine, Ohio establishes a standard of beauty, and this beauty is defined as being as close to white as possible, having blonde hair, blue eyes, and a “Jack and Jill” family. Most of the characters in The Bluest Eye attempt to conform to society’s standards (complicating this idea) and believe if they can achieve at least one of the aspects of beauty their life will be better and they will be treated in higher regards. Through the female characters of Pecola, Claudia, Maureen, Geraldine, and Rosemary it is prevalent that there is a spectrum of beauty and the person who is closest to this standard, white skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes, is considered pretty and is respected by society, while a person who is not close to this standard is considered ugly and is treated poorly by society. By ascribing to society’s expectations of beauty, Geraldine extends the role of white supremacy and undermines her own self-worth.