Annie John

Annie John tells the story of a girl’s road to becoming a young woman. All her life she has had such a close relationship with her mother. They would do everything together like take baths, go to the market, and so on. She found her mother to be beautiful and perfect. This is quite clear when she says “how important I felt to be with my mother” (15). Moreover, there was a deep love that she possessed for her. However, as she continued to get older their relationship deteriorated as well as the love she had for her mother. One day coming home from school, she comments that there was a bitter taste in seeing her mother and that she no longer loved her (53). The story goes on to describe this love-hate relationship.

As I was reading, I noticed that the deterioration of their relationship was not caused by any one person but by both Annie John and her mother. It could be argued that this strain on their relationship is all Annie John’s doing but it appears to be mutual. Her mother started the pushing away. We see this in the beginning of the novel when she is told by her mother that “you just cannot go around the rest of your life looking like a little me” (26). Why would her mother start to destroy such a good thing? Annie resented this and began to push back. She began to confide in other females besides her mother such as Gwen and Red Girl. Also, she became mischievous and kept secrets. Things between both of them would never be the same. They even developed two faces of which one was for father and the rest of the world and one for when they found themselves alone with each other (87). Her mother had a lot to do with this tension.

But in the end, their relationship could never be broken. Though she despised her mother, Annie John still had love for her mother and she too for Annie John. What signified to me that this relationship would last is when her mother tells her that “it doesn’t matter what you do or where you go, I’ll always be your mother” (147).

The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf

What struck me just as much as Khadra was how her cousin Afaat and her friends acted. Khadra was in a Muslim country and not just any Muslim country, but the Muslim country were Islam started (177). She expected the people here would adhere to Islamic laws and customs. Furthermore, she thought she would be home here. However, she had never so far from home. These girls Khadra was with took their veils off and were wearing lots of makeup. She was also in the presence of boys. Drugs were being offered to her as well. No one seemed to care that what they were doing was wrong. All they were concerned about was just having a good time. Kharda, on the other hand, could have none of this. Everything that was going on around her made her sick and want to leave.

Even more striking was the expectations that Afaat and her friends had of Khadra. Khadra was American and they thought that she would be engaging in the things that they were doing. They also thought that she would approve of these things. This is clear when Afaat says, “Is this not as fun as what you do in America?” (178). But Khadra was not a typical American. She never did any of these things. Afaat and her friends’ notions of what American are probably influenced by the media. In the end, everyone’s perception of each other was not what they had envisioned.

Kindred

Octavia Butler’s novel Kindred tells the story of a modern black woman, Dana, who goes back into the antebellum South. We follow Dana through all her hardships and struggles. In reading the novel, I had noticed the role of education. To have an educated slave was a threat to an owner. A slave who was educated could possibly write his or her own pass and head North (101). Consequently, an educated slave was more vulnerable to leave their owner. From a business point of view, losing a slave was like losing a commodity. In any kind of business, losing commodities meant also losing profit. Thus, I can see why Weylin prevented his slaves from learning to read and write. He wanted to keep his commodities and maintain his profit. Besides the business aspect, having a slave leave meant that other slaves would attempt to leave as well. Having a slave leave gave the others hope that they too could leave. Another implication of having educated slaves was that they could teach the others slaves and that would just cause more problems for the owner. Furthermore, discouraging slaves from learning seemed to be another technique just like using physical violence that would keep them in check.

The House on Mango Street

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros is a collection of short tales narrated by the character Esperanza. These rich and colorful tales relate to us her heritage and upbringing. Throughout these tales, Esperanza is focused on this idea of home. Her house on Mango Street is not the ideal home she had envisioned. It was not aesthetically pleasing to her eyes. She wanted to have a real house. Cisneros sums up Esperanza’s feelings when she says that “the house on Mango Street isn’t it” (6). Even though it may not seem like the perfect house, it has given her so many things that no other house could give her. It has shaped and formed the person she is. It has also given her countless memories and experiences. These memories and experiences are the tales she is sharing with us. Moreover, it is not what we see outside of the house but what we see inside that is most important. Inside her house we see this notion of “the house made of heart” (Cisneros 78). A home is not truly a home without the people in it. Esperanza’s house is filled with so many people like her family and friends. These people make up the heart of that house and give it life. Not only does Esperanza not like the house but wants to leave Mango Street. However, she cannot because it will always be with her. It will be with her in her thoughts and whatever else she does. No other house will come close in replacing the one on Mango Street.