Mother Savage phase 2

Mother Savage is a short story written by Guy de Maupassant it takes place during the Franco-Prussian war of the 1870s. Mother Savage’s Son volunteered for the war leaving her all alone. Since she was well off and had money when the Prussians came they were billeted with family’s in the village and since Mother Savage had money she was given four Prussians to care for. Guy de Maupassant's "Mother Savage" illustrates the seemingly ambivalent way that people can go from "enemy" to "neutral" to "friend." Ambivalence is a state of having simultaneous, conflicting feelings toward a person or thing. When the four young Prussians arrived they were in conquered territory so naturally they were enemies of the peasants. But the Prussians started helping around the house, cleaning windows, bringing food home they realized she was old and frail and tried to make the situation as best as she could for them. “In short, doing all the chores like four good boys working for their own mother”(78).  She took a bonding to them, and became their “friends” so its surprising the way the story ends “She liked them well enough, too, those four enemies of hers”(78). When the letter arrived informing Mother Savage of her sons death, something inside of her snapped, she realized that the Prussians are not her friends, they killed her son so she sat I thought of revenge. She was taking a liking to the four boys but what do you do when your son was killed by the fellow countrymen of the people you called “friends”. I’m sure she had conflicting feelings about her plan to murder the soldiers but that didn’t stop her, she wanted revenge. She wanted their mothers know how it felt to lose a son. The ambivalence between friend and enemy is a central theme to the story. The Prussian soldiers did everything to make her comfortable and they thought of her as a friend since she was so kind to them and gave no hints of stabbing them in the back. But its nothing they did, when Mother Savage decided they were enemies and slaughtered them.    

The title is foreshadowing in itself “was this their name or nickname”(77) that phrase right there gets you thinking that maybe its not their surname like you would think. How can this sweet old woman be a savage? As the story comes to the end, you understand that Mother Savage is her nickname for what she did for the soldiers. “You can write them how this all happened, and you can tell their parents that I was the one who did it- I, Victoire Simon, The Savage! Never forget it”(82) she made the soldiers think they were safe and even convinced them that putting straw up in the loft with them would make them warmer and they even helped! They helped her in her plan to kill them.

The story also uses the literally device of a flashback to tell the story. When discussing the family that used to live there, “I also recalled that the good woman who lived there had asked me in, one day when I was bone-tired….” (77). It shows that people in the area thought fondly of her and she was a nice old woman that would help a fellow person in need. But everyone has a dark side and all it took for Mother Savage’s to come out was the death of her son. 

Women

The short stories "Girl"by Jamaica Kincaid and "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker are both written from a mother's point of view and define the role of the woman by focusing on the mother-daughter relationship.

Both short stories show a negative depiction of the mother-daughter relationship. Even though both are written with the mother as the narrator, "Girl" is a mother's critical view of her daughter while "Everyday Use" is a daughter's critical view of her mother. The narrator in "Girl" looks down on her daughter by making remarks like, "to prevent yourself from looking like the slut I know you are so bent on becoming" (350). The word slut obviously has a negative connotation and is never a good thing. The narrator is unsatisfied with her daughter and makes what seems to be an assumption since it is not objected by the daughter herself. It is apparent in this story that the way everyone views a woman is important. The narrator covers everything from how to dress to how to smile to each person. In "Everyday Use", the narrator begins by describing her daughter Dee. She gives us an image of Dee succeeding and starring on television. She starts off by saying, "In real life, I am a large, big boned woman with rough, man-working hands" (327). To describe how Dee looks down on her mother, the narrator gives us a contrasting image of what Dee would want it to be like if her and her mother were to be on television. She says, "But of course all this does not show on television. I am the way my daughter would want me to be: a hundred pounds lighter, my skin like an uncooked barley" (327). This shows that Dee's mother is not up to her standards. For the narrator of "Everyday Use", appearance means little to nothing. Her daughter feels differently since she looks down on her mother's appearance and where she comes from.

"Girl" and "Everyday Use" also focus on a woman's work to run a household. The narrator of "Everyday Use" works in a different way than what is usually thought of when running a household. Some of the chores the narrator in "Everyday Use" performs are depicted by saying, "I can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man" (327). Or, "I can work outside all day, breaking ice to get water for washing" (327). The narrator of "Girl" speaks of work in a much different way, "Wash the white clothes on Monday and put them on the stone heap; was the color clothes on Tuesday and put them on the clothes-line to dry" (350). From what I could tell, the narrator in "Everyday Use" behaves in a way that tells me there is  not a man in the household because of this, the narrator's role is to be both the man and the woman of the household. "Girl" does mention a father being present so this may explain the absence of dirty work that was present in "Everyday Use". Both stories only talk of the woman's role and never compare or contrast it with that of a man's. However we know that killing and cleaning hogs is a man's job by the way the narrator of "Everyday Use" words the sentence.

"Girl" and "Everyday Use"show the roles of the women. Both narrators have the responsibility of running a household and raising daughters. These ladies have a lot on their plate and even though the mother-daughter relationship is strained, they make it work.

Phase 1: The Mother-Daughter Relationship

The short stories “Girl”, by Jamaica Kincaid and “Everyday Use”, by Alice Walker are two very different stories, but share many similar themes. One such theme is the complex relationship between mother and daughter. The way the mother in “Girl” speaks to her daughter comes across as borderline demeaning, and the way in which Dee (Wangero) speaks and acts towards her mother in “Everyday Use” is also some what negative, but both stories still show traditional relationships between mother and daughter. The narrators’ voices and the interaction between the characters of each story provide a detailed look into the complex relationship between mother and daughter.

                The narrator in Kincaid’s “Girl” is providing her daughter with advice on being domestic and being a lady. One of the major roles in the relationship between mother and daughter is that of a teacher. The mother in Kincaid’s story is teaching her daughter the things that she will need to know as she grows into a woman, however, the ways in which the mother presents the lessons to her daughter are accusatory and show a general distrust. The mother asks her daughter if she sings benna in Sunday school, and one of the pieces of advice offered on being a lady is “don’t sing benna in Sunday school”, to which the daughter replies, “I don’t sing benna on Sundays at all and never in Sunday school”(350). The mother asks the question and corrects her daughter before her daughter answers, implying that the question was accusatory. Throughout the story the mother also accuses her daughter of becoming a slut later in life. She tells her daughter to “walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming,” “prevent yourself from looking like the slut I know you are so bent on becoming,” and “behave yourself in the presence of men who don’t know you very well, and this way they won’t recognize immediately the slut I have warned you against becoming” (350). The mother’s role as a teacher becomes a critique of the daughter because of the distrust between the mother and daughter.

                It is every parent’s hope that her child will be better off than she was, and most parents would unselfishly offer anything they had to their children. In Walker’s “Everyday Use”, Dee is more intelligent and more attractive than her mother, giving her an attitude of superiority, and she tries to exploit her mother’s generosity. The best example of Dee’s sense of superiority comes from the narrator’s perception of Dee’s ideal mother; “I am the way my daughter would want me to be: a hundred pounds lighter, my skin like an uncooked barley pancake. My hair glistens in the hot bright lights. Jonny Carson has much to do to keep up with my quick and witty tongue (328).” Dee’s dissatisfaction with her mother’s appearance is evident even to the mother, who is narrating the story. Not only does Dee feel superior to her mother in physical appearance, but in intelligence as well. Before she moved away, Dee often read to her uneducated mother and undereducated sister, only to “push [them] away at just the moment, like dimwits, [they] seemed about to understand” (328). Throughout the story Dee helps herself to her mother’s belongings, such as the churn top made by Uncle Buddy and the dasher made by Uncle Henry (332). Because of her mother’s generosity, Dee felt entitled to her things, as though “they already belonged to her” (333). It is not until Dee’s sense of entitlement encroaches on her sister’s inheritance that the mother draws the line. In “Everyday Use”, Dee negatively affects the traditional mother daughter relationship by acting superior and taking advantage of her mother’s generosity.

                In both Kincaid’s and Walker’s stories, the relationships between mother and daughter, such as teacher and care giver, are affected negatively by one involved party, the mother in “Girl” and the daughter in “Everyday Use”. Though these stories have negative aspects, they both show tradition roles played by mothers and daughters. The fact that they are negatively affected by actions of either mother or daughter show how fragile even the most intimate relationships can be.

Hello everybody my name is Eugenio Hernandez III but I go by Eugene since most people cannot say my first name and yes my grandpa and my dad are both named Eugenio. I am a sophmore here at Tech and currently my major is pre-pharmacy. I am currently applying to pharmacy school for August 2013.  This has been a major dream of mine since beginning high school and hopefully I can accomplish this goal.  I am a pretty quiet person for the most part until I really to get know somebody then I am more social and talkative.  I am a Jehovah's Witness. I work at a pharmacy called Pharmerica. At Pharmerica we service and provide medications to over 50 nursing homes in North Texas and some in New Mexico, so yes we are super busy filling all these meds for the residents.  When I am not going to school, church, working, or studying I like to workout and play basketball.  I love to play basketball anytime and anywhere and I just recently began to workout as I have found out it is very satisfying and it helps me when I am stressed out with school and work.  I also love to read so I actually will enjoy this class very much as I can see we will read alot.  I even have an interesting story because of reading so much.  When I was in the fifth grade we had a reading system called AR that used points to see how much you read as you would take tests about your readings. Well by the end of the school year, I had the most points in the whole school so I won a free trampoline and I got to be the principal on the last day of school so that was pretty exciting.
    

Wesley Rich

Hey guys my name is Wesley Rich and I'm a sophomore psychology major from the Dallas area. I'm looking at going into the Physicians Assistant program here at tech and work at that so I kind of have a plan for a job after school. I play the tuba in the Goin' Band which is pretty cool but other than that I don't really have any activities going on. I'm really into watching movies and tv shows on Netflix and I got a job at a movie theater back home just so I could watch movies for free.  I'm really looking forward to all the readings and having fun discussions in the group!

Hey Guys! I’m Connor, I’m sure you all remember me after I basically demanded we name our group Connor & Friends. Haha. I am a sophomore communication studies major, but that is about my fourth major so who knows how long I will stick with it. With that being said, I have absolutely no idea what my plans are for life. I am the youngest of four children, my eldest sister is currently pregnant and I am super excited about becoming an aunt in December. You all will probably hear quite a bit about that so I feel obligated to give y’all a heads up. I don’t really have many hobbies..other than sleeping way too much. I played varsity golf in high school and was the team captain my senior year. However, I haven’t played a round of golf in about a year. I work at T.C. Elli’s on Broadway and I ABSOLUTELY love my job. I like to pretend like I am this awesome fashionista but sadly I am not. You will probably always see me in Nike shorts and a baggy t-shirt or any other form of workout attire. Do not let my active wear fool you into believing I work out because I don’t. Haha.

 

This is a photo of my siblings (from left to right) Christopher, Chandi, Caitlin, and me. Chandi is the pregnant one and her husband Drew is not pictured. Also, Caitlin's husband Jeremy is not pictured. We are a tall family but you really can't tell from this picture.

My name is Taylor Langdon, I am a junior here at Tech and I am on scholarship for the Texas Tech Rodeo program. My women's team won the 2012 National Championship; the first one in Tech history! I am majoring in Exercise Sport Science to eventually go into Radiology to be an ultra sound tech or x-ray tech, still deciding. I enjoy English I'm not a big book reader but i look forward to reading some interesting things in this class. I have been around horses all of my life and it is what my passion is, I have been a world champion barrel racer multiple times on the mare i rodeo for tech that i trained myself. I am trying to fit it into this being my last year at tech which shouldn't be hard i will just have to work hard. I look forward to working with all of you in Intro to Fiction this semester!