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There are three mother-daughter relationships found within the stories Snapshot: Lost Lives of Women by Amy Tan, and Everyday Use by Alice Walker. In Everyday Use there are two. The first relationship is between the timid Maggie and her passive mother. The second mother-daughter relationship is between her pushy sister and their mother. The third relationship is in Snapshot: Lost Lives of Women, and is between Amy Tan and her shameful mother.
Although these five women all have some type of mother-daughter relationship, the relationships differ greatly in their attitudes and actions. First, Maggie and her mother in Everyday Use have similar characteristics. They have neither received a good education, nor been blessed with beauty. They share similar feelings of intimidation towards Dee, Maggie's sister. Their mother feels sorry for Maggie because she is not as pretty as Dee. Maggie and her mother enjoy doing simple things together.
This is shown when their mother recalled the simple act of sitting together and says, I asked Maggie to bring me a dip of snuff. And the two of us sat there just enjoying, until it was time to go in the house and go to bed (Walker, 78). Maggie and her mother also share a mutual resentment towards Dee because she sees things they use everyday as outdated and decoration. Dee cannot understand that these objects are not artifacts to her sister and mother.
Everyday objects that Maggie and her mother use are the quilts Dee insists upon taking home with her. Their mother has already promised Maggie the quilts as a wedding gift. Dee argues, Maggie cant appreciate these quilts! Shed probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use. I [the mother] reckon she would God knows Ive been saving em for long enough with nobody using em. I hope she will! (77).
Maggie and her mother see the quilts as objects meant for everyday use. This displays their mutual difference in character from Dee. Secondly, Dee and her mother share an odd kind of mother-daughter relationship. Dee takes the dominating role in their relationship. Dee intimidates her mother because she is well educated.
Her mother also feels intimidated by Dee because she is pretty and stylish. The quote, She [Maggie] thinks her sister has held life always in the palm of one hand, that no is a word the world never learned to say to her (71) best describes Dees attitude towards the world. As the story progresses, the mother goes through a change. She learns how to say no to Dee.
Dee and her mother had been arguing over whether or not she would take the quilts and the mother finally tells her to Take one or two of the others, (77). Dee then gets defensive and tells Maggie, make something of yourself, (77) and puts down Maggie and their mothers lifestyle. Dees attitude of superiority demonstrates the warped ideas of what she thinks a mother-daughter relationship is like. The third and final mother-daughter relationship is in Snapshot: Lost Lives of Women. In this story, Amy Tan recalls stories about the women in her family that her mother told her. Amy Tan describes her mothers past and the shame her mother felt because of the rape of Amy's grandmother.
Amy has a deep respect for her mother, which makes their mother-daughter relationship strong. Amy and her mother grew up in very different places and in different times. When Amy's mother grew up, women were looked down upon for reasons that seem strange to us nowadays. As a result, there are some huge barriers between Amy and her mother that have come from the differences in the cultures in which they were raised.
Amy's mother expresses the distance she feels from her daughter when Amy states that she understands the hardships she went through. Her mother reacts by saying, How can you understand? You did not live in China then. You do not know what it is like to have no position in life We had no face! We belonged to nobody!
This is a shame I can never push off my back (Tan, 323). Amy has heard stories of her mothers life, her past, and has dedicated her career to making right the wrongs that were done to shame her family's past. The manner in which Amy acts reflects her feelings about the mother-daughter relationship she is in. The three mother-daughter relationships in these two stories are extremely different.
Unlike Dee who is embarrassed of her mother, Amy Tan is proud of her mother and writes about her life. Although Dee and Maggie share the same mother, they have very different feelings towards her. Maggie sees her mother more as a peer, while Dee sees her mother as inferior. The mother loves both Maggie and Dee, however she and Maggie share a simple life.
Most likely, Maggie will grow up to lead a life similar to that of her mothers. In that respect, her mother feels closer to Maggie than to her other daughter Dee. In contrast to both the relationships in Everyday Use, Amy Tan can imagine how her mothers life was, but will never know the harsh realities her mother dealt with face to face. Through Maggie's modest attitude, Dees forward attitude, and Amy's passionate writing, one can realize the attitudes and actions that can differ from one mother-daughter relationship to another.
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Research essay sample on Mother Daughter Relationships In Short Stories
