Alice Walker
The short story “Everyday Use” is about a mother and her two daughters. Her oldest daughter, Dee, seems to think that everyone in the world owes her something just because she is alive. She is rude and does not care for anyone but herself. The youngest daughter, Maggie, is really timid and does not like to be the center of attention. The story starts out with the mother waiting for her daughter, Dee, to come home. Dee has always been ashamed of the places she and her family have lived and she did everything she could to get away for a while. She never wanted to bring anyone home with her and it seemed to me like she never actually came home. Maggie joins her mother to wait for Dee and she finally arrives with a man. His name is Asalamalakim but he told everyone to call him Hakim-a-barber. Dee comes in and tells her mother, who had given her the name she did for a reason, that she wanted to be called Wangero. I found this to be very disrespectful, not only to the mother but also to her ancestors after whom she had been named. It seemed like all Wangero (Dee) wanted to come home for was to take many things that her mother had that interested her. She wanted some hand-made pieces that had been given to her mother. She took a churn top and dash then she went looking for more things. She went and found some old quilts her mother had made with her aunt. She wanted these quilts so bad but, unfortunately, they had already been promised to Maggie. Wangero (Dee) tried to talk her mother out of her decision saying that Maggie would use them instead of appreciate them and not use them. Maggie told her mother it was fine for Wangero (Dee) to have the quilts but her mother did not like that. I think maybe she was seeing that all Wangero (Dee) came home for was to take anything she could get her hands on that had any meaning for anyone else. The story ends with Dee leaving upset because, for once, she did not get what she wanted. Maggie, on the other hand, was very pleased with what had happened!
Amy Tan
I really enjoyed reading the story “Half and Half”. It was very interesting. I felt extremely bad for the girl who narrated this story. She had been through a lot in her life. I thought it was horrible how Ted’s mother did not really give her a chance before she judged her. She did not want them to be happy together and I was glad that ted and the girl went against her wishes and got married. I was a little disturbed when I read that Ted made all of the decisions for them, but then I read that she always told him too. I can understand how this could have been a little frustrating for Ted. I know that I hate it when I have to make decisions. I thought it was awful that he just snapped and went off on her for practically nothing. He knew she did not like to make decisions and he lived with it for so long. Why was it at that moment that he chose to get upset? I understand that he had gotten into some trouble for a bad decision, but that was not the girl’s fault. As the story progressed, it got sad. I do not fully understand why this one girl had to look after four boys. Why could her sisters not help her? Why could her mother not help her? I think that had she only had to look after one, things would have ended differently. It was heartbreaking what the mother did the day after her son drowned. I know that she wanted him back, but it was his time to go. I felt bad that she went back to the beach hoping to come home with good news and ended up leaved more upset than she was when she arrived. I think that the narrator and Ted’s marriage is a lot like the story of her brother. As much as someone would like to believe that there is something still there and they will come back with good news, everyone is just going to be more disappointed and upset in the end.
Bobbie Ann Mason
“Shiloh” ended differently than I thought it was going to. Leroy and Norma Jean seemed to be so happy. Leroy had been a truck driver for a while but he was finally home so he could spend his time with his wife. I think that Leroy loved Norma Jean so much and he would have done anything he could to make her happy. All she seemed to be interested in was getting buff. Norma Jean’s mother, Mabel, seemed to have a way of butting in without it seeming like she was actually butting in. She always offered her opinion and tried to tell the couple things they should do. I think when Norma Jean started back to school, she realized how different things were in the world. She probably was once happy with her husband and the life they had together, but it grew old for her. I also think that the fact that their child had died so young played a huge part in the fact that they could no longer be happy. I did not understand why they never had another child but maybe this was Norma Jean’s way of distancing herself from her husband. The couple finally went to Shiloh, where Norma Jean’s mother had gotten married. Neither one really wanted to be there, but they went anyways. I was shocked when Norma Jean said that she wanted to leave Leroy. He had tried so hard in the last few months to make her happy and give her what she wanted. I honestly think that Norma Jean was just tired of listening to Leroy’s ideas. She did want a house, but not a log cabin. Leroy was dead set on a log cabin and he did not realize until it was too late that she did not want this. I think that Norma Jean was happier when her husband was out on the road. She had time for herself and she was not used to having Leroy around all the time. When he got injured, this all changed. Leroy was there 24/7 and I honestly believe that this is ultimately what led to Norma Jean wanting to leave Leroy.
Jamaica Kincaid
To me, the story “Girl” is just list of things that a girl was expected to do. They were supposed to cook, clean, shop, be polite, and do everything the right way which was the way their mother showed them. Most importantly, a girl was never to be known as a slut. This probably has to be the worst thing a girl could be called. I viewed this list as something a mother would be telling her daughter. If this is how it really was written then there is something wrong. All of the directions and rules are perfectly fine but some things are not. I feel so bad for the girl who had to sit and listen to this. Her mother obviously thinks that all she will become in life is a slut. She mentions this at least three or four times. I know her mother is probably just trying to help, but I do not think the girl’s feelings were taken into consideration. Had I had to sit and listen to this list, I would have probably began to cry. I honestly think the only thing worse than a guy calling a girl a slut is for her own mother, or father, or any other family member, to call her a slut. This would have had to have killed her confidence and left her wondering why everyone thought this about her; especially if she had not done anything to make them speak of her in such a way.
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