The Representation of Motherhood in Everyday Use and The Glass Menagerie - Essay Example

? Thesis ment: The Representation of Motherhood (Maternal Desire/Anxiety/ Fear) The representation of motherhood is one aspect that has been vividly represented in the book “Everyday Use” by Walker Alice and the play “The Glass Menagerie” by William Tennessee. In “Everyday Use” the book represents a mother, Mrs. Johnson, who is anxious about her two daughters, Dee and Maggie who are coherently different in term of thinking, behavior, decision making and their view on traditional norms. In this case, maternal anxiety was represented by the mother when she tried to instill to Dee that culture was important in the African society reason being, she was the daughter who was to acquire the quilts but she was not responsible enough. Maggie on the other hand was quite receptive of culture and tradition and she was willing to be the custodian of the family hereditary quilts from the mother. “The Glass Menagerie” presented maternal anxiety when Amanda had to look out for Tom, her elder son because he was smoking too much and he did not have any sense of purpose in his life and the daughter Laura who had become withdrawn from the society because she viewed herself as less worthy since she had a disability. Introduction “Everyday Use” by Walker Alice and “The Glass Menagerie” by William Tennessee both represent maternal anxiety, desire and fear in the fact that characters such as Dee and Maggie from “Everyday Use” are taught by the mother that they should be more welcoming to tradition and the handing down of quilts. Thus the mother desires that they should adapt to culture. According to the Mrs. Johnson, the mother to Dee and Maggie, the quilts were supposed to be handed down to the eldest daughter, Dee. The problem arose when she did not see any sense in following tradition and the mother thought that she was not worthy of being in control of the quilts that marked their family tradition. In addition to that, being the eldest daughter meant responsibility; this was one attribute that her mother did not see her portray because she was more of independent and self centered. Maggie on the other hand was very receptive of family tradition and the mother viewed her as someone who would be very capable of ensuring that their family tradition lived on. In this case the mother decided to hand over the quilts to the younger daughter, Maggie because she proved herself as someone who respects tradition. “The Glass Menagerie” represented Amanda the mother of Tom and Laura. They were abandoned by their father back then when they were young. Amanda was left to care and fend for the family and look after their growing children. Motherhood is evidenced when Amanda has to be the father and mother to Tom and Laura. In addition to that, Tom causes his mother anxiety because he was not stable enough to take care of himself as he engaged in smoking and going to the cinema too many times. On the other hand maternal anxiety is viewed when Amanda asks Tom to look for a mate and a potential suitable husband for his sister Laura from his work place which he does. Comparison between “Everyday Use” and “The Glass Menagerie” Maternal desire: Both mothers in this case are very concerned about their first born child. Mrs. Johnson, the mother to Dee and Maggie is concerned that Dee will not live up to what is expected of her. Being the first born daughter she ought to have been the child who would be the one being handed over the family quilts but Dee disappointed the mother and the quilts were handed over to Maggie. When compared to “The Glass Menagerie”, Amanda on the other hand thought that Tom would be the man in their house and he would stand out to be the care giver and provider in their house just the way the father was. In this case what the mother expected was too much of Tom as he could not provide all that because the job that he was doing was not paying that much. In both cases, it can be concluded that both mothers expected much out of their first born children but in both cases their children could not live up to it. One way or another both children had their own independence and thinking. Maternal fear: Mrs. Johnson and Amanda are both fearful of the characteristics that their daughters portray. The mother described Maggie from “Everyday Use” as a child who was always shy and could not be independent of herself. She went ahead to describe Dee as one who, “…always look anyone in the eye. Hesitation was not part of her nature” (Walker 25). Maggie was described as the opposite of Dee. In this case, Mrs. Johnson feared that Maggie was very dependent on her and she cared too much as compared to her sister. According to Tuhen (1993), there is a representation of maternal anxiety and fear that Dee will not be like the daughter that she always wanted her to be. For example, when the mother lacked money to take them to school, Maggie the younger daughter quit school, while Dee was not for the idea because she emphasized that her education was more important. “She used to read to us without pity….She washed us in a river of make believe, burned us with a lot of knowledge we didn’t necessarily need to know” (Walker 26). Amanda describes Laura from “The Glass Menagerie” as the child who was very withdrawn from the society. This was because when she was a child she got an illness that left her crippled, where one leg became slightly shorter than the other. As a result she sought comfort in a piece of glass collection which she adored. The glass collection can be symbolically related to Laura, meaning that she is as fragile as the glass collection that she has. Thomson (1995) described the story of two girls where one was beautiful than the other and was chosen by the King. The good girl was portrayed as having a sense of true womanhood while the other felt unworthy. The same theme can be applied to “The Glass Menagerie” where Laura feels unworthy of herself. Her mother portrays maternal anxiety because she knew that her daughter was not happy and as a result she wanted Laura to get exposed to the world so that she could meet new people and stop being sad, quiet and lonely. That is the reason why Amanda desired to help her in looking for a gentleman through the help of Tom. Maternal fear is depicted when Amanda goes ahead to ask Tom to look for a potential husband for Laura. The mother felt that she was getting older and she had no potential suitors and that is why she sought the move to ask Tom to look for a suitor from the warehouse where he works. From the two cases, both mothers are concerned of the outcome of their children and how they relate to the society and the world. This is pure evidence of maternal fear and concern. Maternal fear and anxiety based on single parenting is exhibited by the two mothers. It can be noted that Mrs. Johnson raised her daughters without the presence of father and that was the same case for Amanda who also raised Tom and Laura when their father abandoned them for another woman. In both cases, the mothers did expect their children to behave as they were told. In the case of Amanda, she was portrayed in a manner that she was always treating Tom and Laura as young children. For example, she kept telling them what to do and where not to go. Laura in this instance was quarreled for not staying in the house as she went out to the museum and Tom was told to stop smoking and save up the money he uses to buy cigarettes, he was also told he lacked table manners and he visited the movies too much. As cited in Hickey (1984), Murray Bowen’s concept of the family projection process is when the parents shift their misunderstandings to the child. In “The Glass Menagerie”, when Amanda did not get the job she wanted that would her family get more money, she went home and quarreled Laura for not being in the house. The same happened when Mrs. Johnson did quarrel Dee for not being responsible enough to take the family quilts. Maternal anxiety and fear is portrayed when both fathers are not available. Again, both parents want the best out of their children and they fail to understand that what they want is not what their children want, thus Bowen’s concept is evidenced in this instance. Contrast between “Everyday Use” and “The Glass Menagerie” The contrast comes in when Mrs. Johnson, the mother to Dee and Maggie is more focused on tradition and the handing over of quilts because it is African tradition that the elder daughter possesses the quilts as the first priority then the younger daughter comes in second. In addition to that, it is also African tradition that the elder child gets the first hand in marriage and the second child comes in next. When compared to Amanda, contrast is evidenced when tradition is not very important to her. Amanda basically cares about her children and the subject of quilts or any other form of traditions is not a major subject of concern. Thus Amanda can be described as a mother who was not focused on tradition. Thus she lacks maternal desire for traditional culture setup. Another contrasting feature based on mother hood is that Amanda the mother to Tom and Laura knows that marrying off Laura may be a huge task because she is quite withdrawn and finds no much importance in men. As a result, she goes ahead to find a suitor for Laura and even invites him to their home. So she can be described as a mother who secretly undertakes the initiative to marry off her daughter in a manner that Laura is not fully aware of. As for Mrs. Johnson, despite the motherhood anxiety, she did not undertake such kind of actions with any of her daughters. Maternal anxiety is also portrayed when Amanda from the “The Glass Menagerie” keeps on reminiscing about their past as a form to escape reality of what she and her children are undergoing. In the play, Amanda was always drifting from to illusions by the stories that she was always giving to her children. For example, she used to tell of her stories when she was young about the number of callers that she had. She always portrayed this behavior every time she wanted Laura and Tom to do exactly what she wanted and when they were arguing. Mrs. Johnson never portrayed these characteristics, in fact there was no one point where she drifted from reality and stated talking of her past callers or life. In the book, she was portrayed as a character that was real to her and her children and she spoke less about their father and their past. Thus she avoids the past predicaments as much while Amanda on the other hand is still attached to her past and she focuses on her past too much when her family is undergoing challenges. Works cited Hickey, B. A. Bowen's Family Projection Process and Tennessee Williams's “The Glass Menagerie”. Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 22 (1984): 26–32. doi: 10.1111/j.1744-6163.1984.tb00200.x Tuten, Nancy. "Alice Walker's “Everyday Use”." The Explicator 51.2 (1993): 125-128. Thomson, Rosemarie Garland. "Ann Petry's Mrs. Hedges and the evil, one?eyed girl: A feminist exploration of the physically disabled female subject." Women's Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal 24.6 (1995): 599-614. Walker, Alice. "Everyday Use." Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. 2nd ed. Eds. John Schilb and John Clifford. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2003. 382-89. Read More