A Cream Cracker Under the Settee

     Mrs. Sommers is a middle aged timid mother of a handful of children, and is apparently not well to do anymore after her husband’s death; Not that she probably ever was, but more so than her luck would have it now. She is small framed with tattered old clothes, as if she hasn’t been able to purchase

easy life and Mrs Johnston has a hard life and has to work hard to

I was born and raised in the South, I do not consider myself from the location although; I was raised in rural Alabama just south of Tuscaloosa Al. I have seen my share of sexism, racism, and poverty and how fine upstanding members of society treat the individuals they view as lower than their selves. It can be a petty cruel environment and this piece of literature struck very close to home for me. The treatment of the elderly woman represents everything I see as wrong about how

Nel and Sula’s relationship is a complex one, which allows for the novel to become incredibly in depth and driven by interesting characters. Sula’s relationships with her mother and grandmother are opposite of Nel’s relationship with her mother. This is, perhaps, why their personalities differ so much once they reach adulthood. Both become their mothers.

Sula dislikes her disheveled house, and wishes that she could live in a household as clean as that of Nel. Sula?s positive view of Nel?s home challenges Nel to see it in a new light, teaching her to appreciate. This concept stays current throughout the early years of their relationship, each opening the other?s eyes to new idea and ways of living and as they do their friendship grows stronger. The two become practically inseparable, living completely symbiotically and depending on each other for everything. However, this relationship is destined to change.

Secondly, the narrator mentions an ironic statement with regard to his nature. He indicates that he is a timid and humane person. As a matter of fact, his parents made jokes concerning him with regard to his

Women in the early Victorian Era were very limited in their individualism as they were expected to conform to societal norms. The narrator craves freedom from the society she lives in, dreaming of having a room "downstairs that opened on the piazza and [has] roses all over the window." (Gilman 3) The narrator wants nothing more than to be able to express herself, yet she is held back as she reveals that "John would not hear of it." (Gilman 3) She knows her place is not to question her husband, so she finds other creative outlets that she keeps secret. She knows that these outlets of creativity are found, she risks her husband’s reputation as she would disrespect him. Throughout the narrative, the heroine acknowledges the importance of status in society. Even when her madness drives her to contemplate committing suicide, she says, “I wouldn't do it. Of course not. I know well enough that a step like that is improper and might be misconstrued.” (Gilman 15) Even in the most stressful times, it is the fear of ruining her husband’s reputation that keeps her from obtaining what she wants. Finally, the narrator breaks free of her confinement by tearing off the wallpaper, saying, "I've got out at

Because of the sexual confidence Hannah Peace has, Sula must disguise her difference, just like her grandmother Eva had too. Eva’s drastic measures were repeated by Sula an act of survival and denial of powerlessness and vulnerability. Nel and Sula are regularly picked on by the same group of boys, causing Sula to take matter into her own hands. At one point, Sula takes out a knife and cuts off part of her finger saying, “ ‘If I can do that to myself, what you suppose I’ll do to you?’ ” (54-55). This severe act if Sula’s moment of self-recognition of her connection to her grandmother Eva. Here, Sula realizes that she has to fight against her own vulnerability, and establish her identity, hereby following her grandmother Eva’s example. Though this moment shows Sula’s inner strength, it can never disguise her enough of being different from the rest of her community. Just as Eva and Hannah, Sula continues the unpreventable, mature line of breaking past the typical gender roles of the time. Eva’s overly independent attitude and removal from caring and mothering a daughter correctly, leaves her daughters with unlearned, societal caretaking skills. This results in Sula’s highly inappropriate and unnecessary act of clumsy caretaking within her relationship with Nel. Yet, it is understandable because Sula has never been taught normal and conventional means for problem solving. The denial of motherly love from

The play also arguably acts as a critique of Victorian-Era notions of middle class philanthropy towards the poor who believed themselves to be socially superior and had severe moral judgements towards the poor. It also represents the differences and the struggles between the younger and older generation. “Perhaps I ought to warn you that he’s an old friend of mine and that I see him fairly frequently.” This quote clearly suggests that Mr. Birling is trying to bully the inspector through his status and authority in society and the power he has over him, Mr. Birling is comprehending that he is more important than the officer. He believes that having political and social power over people makes him all-powerful, even when he refers to the working class or the middle class. He thinks that the working class is just there to serve you as a labor. Mr. Birling suggests that the working class are not worth crying over, when he uses the quote ‘Several hundred women’ he sees Eva as just one of those worthless girls who worked at his money-making factory. This shows us his overall mindset that all his workers had not more value to him than that they were workers who just earned profits for him. By saying “they keep changing” he shows the readers that he wouldn’t have cared if any woman or man would’ve left his factory. Sheila also argues that her dad had a

Through the development of characterisation, Lawler’s text acts as a mirror for an emerging society. Whilst the play encompasses many significant themes relevant to an Australian 1950’s society, the disillusionment of growing old is a concept which is addressed through characters Roo and Olive, who evidently find their discoveries both confronting and provocative. Lawler demonstrates reluctance to grow old through Roo, Olive’s love interest who has been consistently travelling to Melbourne for the lay-off season every 5 months with his friend, Barney. Roo a dominant, masculine cane cutter who after seventeen years is reluctant to address that he has aged significantly, is adamant to believe that he still possesses the same strength and endurance that he once did. It appears that he is blinded by the excitement of the lay-off season to accept that seventeen years later, he is not the same person that he once was. Roo’s disillusion is notable in Act 3 Scene 1 when he demonstrates a defensive tone when responding “Nobody tells me I’m old. I’m as good as a man now than I ever was”, when confronted by Emma. Through Roo’s distinctive voice, Roo’s reluctance to accept that he has aged is significant in understanding Roo’s response to his unwanted discovery.

Nel follows all the stereotypes of what a woman should be. She is a simple God-fearing, church going women who marries young and is very domesticated, tending to the house and her children. Nel chooses to settle into the conventional female role of wife and mother while all throughout her life she has been careful to stick close to the "right" side of conformity. She was raised in a stable, rigid home by a family that has always been careful to keep up a socially respectable persona and an immaculately clean house. Sula on the other hand is the complete opposite. Sula gives social reforms no mind and is in a sense a wild woman that can not be tamed. She defies social conventions by never marrying, leaving her hometown to get an education and having multiple affairs with different men. The home she grew up in was in a constant state of disarray supplied by a steady stream of borders, three informally adopted boys all of whom were renamed Dewey and a line of men waiting for her openly promiscuous mother.

Two more pertinent points are made by the author, in regards to the grandmother, follow in quick succession; both allude to further yet-to-be seen gloom within the story. O’Connor writes of the grandmother “[s]he didn’t intend for the cat to be left alone in the house for three days because he would miss her too much and she was afraid he might brush against one of the gas burners and accidentally asphyxiate himself” (1043) and of the way she is dressed “[i]n case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady” (1043). These two observations are innocent enough on the surface but provide true intent on the foreshadowing that O’Connor uses throughout the story. It is these two devices, irony and foreshadowing, that I feel are prominent and important aspects of the story and are evidenced in my quest to decipher this story.

The family stops at a restaurant to get a bite to eat, and we find out that the two parents, Bailey and his wife, do not really care for the Grandmother. The Grandmother asks Bailey to dance, but he just declines and ignores her. Bailey’s wife does not seem to care either. They then continue on the road, and the Grandmother begins to tell the story of a house that she really enjoyed passing. She really wanted to go there, so she persuaded the children to want to go as well. After a long time of complaining, they finally convince their father to head back toward this house. They go down this road when all

Cornelia is watching as her brave and independent woman is slowly fading away, mentally and physically. "She was never like this, never like this" (Porter, 517). Cornelia tells the doctor worried as she sees her mother's capacity diminishing. Granny hears this and is spiteful towards Cornelia. Granny has had a hard life and that has made her very independent. For eighty years Granny has taken care of herself, she remembers, and tells herself, "I pay my own bills, and I don't throw my money away on nonsense" (516) and now to have people coming in her room checking in on her, taking about her is unfamiliar and condescending to her. Granny is a very reserved woman one who is almost embarrassed or ashamed of allowing people to know her thoughts, "no use to let them, the kids, knows how silly she had once been" (517).

The men in the play showed lack of respect and concern for how difficult it was for women to keep the house clean and running smoothly. During the play the men did nothing but criticized everything the women said about Mrs. Wright, they would