I love to write, wait.... let me correct myself; I love to write fiction.
being used to writing being only used for self expression, I have a massive problem writing any sort of essay. I just find it draining. And so here I am at 3:30 in the morning with just an into.
I figured, If I wrote this in my blog I might actually have a fighting chance of finishing it.
Here I am working on my draft:
A mother and daughter have a bond like no other in the existence of the world. An invisible bond connects the two. Often, no matter what, a child will always love it's mother and the mother will love the child back with small glimpses of understanding. With this bond in place you may think that mother and daughter know each other so well that they'd always get along. That's not the case. That is because a child is
not it's parent. A child is it's own person with it's own mind and ideas on how the world works. An individual with it's own thoughts and feelings; who grows up in it's own individual situation, entirely different from it's mothers. This individuality can often lead to misunderstandings between mother and daughter In Alice Walker's “Everyday Use” oldest daughter Dee and her mother fail to understand each other. In the story Dee comes to visit her mother and sister after having been away to college. The mother notes how flashy Dee is dressed and how Dee always did have her own taste and style, something the mother admits to not having herself. Dee decides that she wants to take a few things from home including an old quilt that her mother, aunt, and grandmother have made from old scraps. The Mother does not want Dee to have the quilt because it is already reserved as a wedding gift for her other daughter, Maggie. Besides the quilt being reserved, the mother is a bit put off because she had actually offered the quilt to Dee before who refused claiming that they were “old fashioned, out of style”(253). Both of them fail to understand where the other is coming from. Dee wants to connect with her past and heritage through material things and the mother thinks Dee is being self centred and stuck up. They are both coming from two very different points of views and have failed to understand the situation from each other's eyes. Sadly this is a situation that often comes up between mothers and daughters due to having grown up in different circumstances.
Dee's Mother knows that she does not live up to what Dee wishes she was. She refers to Dee as "The child who has made it" and sometimes dreams of being re-united with her on a TV program of sorts(248). In her dream she is "the way my daughter would want me to be" which is a hundred punds lighter with glistining hair and a witty toung that Johnny Carson would have to struggle to keep up with(248). Dee's Mother knows she is not that woman though. She is infact a hard working woman who boasts that she can do anything a man can; she can “kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man” with her “rough, man-working hands”(248). Allready one can tell that this mother feels that she is somewhat of a failure in her daughter's eyes and is not what the daughter would prefer as a mother.
Setting aside the physical differences, Dee and her Mother differ in many ways. Dee's Mother cannot look a white man in the eyes, talking to them "always with one foot raised in flight" and turned away from them. Dee on the other hand "would always look one in the eye. Hesitation was no part in her nature"(248). With the story being told in the Mother's point of view, one wonders if the Mother is putting herslef down, idolizing her daughter, or both? The Mother often describes Dee in a heroic sort of way, saying that she is "determined to stare down any disaster" witheyes that would not flicker(249). While Dee's Mother admits to wearing flanel night gowns and overalls, Dee is described as being stylish; "she had a style of her own: and knew what style was" at the age of 16(249). Dee also had more of an education, both formal and wordly. Dee's Mother never made it past the second grade, when her school was closed down, on the other hand, Dee herslef not only went to college, she went away for college. Dee's Mother knows more about self efficent hand crafted work and Dee is knows more about schooling and life outside her old small town.
Dee was and is materialistic. I myself do not know why specificly but I do know that it is a state of mind that's hard to shake off. Dee is stated as having wanted "nice things" and to Dee those nice things were dresses and black pumps. She even alterd a suit that belonged to her mother to fit her own tastes. dee wanted the better things in life. This isn't bad, or greedy really, it's natural. She grew up with a worn down mother and hand made things and thought she not only could do better but
deserved better. She hated her situation in life enough to go change it. She hated the house she grew up in, her mother knew that but did't stop to ask or even wonder why.
It's not very good but it's also very good. Simple but it came out without a lot of stress and no re-working. When I think about how much I used to struggle before, I feel happy at things like this now.
My hair is unruly, try not to mind it.
She's a mixed media piece done with charcoal (body) Marker (base color of the face) conte crayon (everything else) and a black pen (the stitch outline, eyes outline and the tatts on her leg). I drew her while sick, sneezing everywhere! What a mess, and all the dust made me sneeze more! But it was worth it.
Pin-up-close-up.
My cell phone, my sharpener, and a pair of ear buds done in conte crayon.
A plant and one of the light fixtures done in ink and coffee. Yum.
Simple cross hatching of a paper bad and a shoe.
Posts
