Group 1
Group Paper
Engl 1302
Dr. Brenner
1/1/2010
Families Chapter (in Arguing about Literature)
[DB’s comments are usually in brackets in the below paper]
These stories about family all share the idea that family members must look after their relatives
so they can better fit in with society. Each text compares the lives of a family to themselves or what
they expect them to be. In the end, it almost seems like it is a hassle or a burden that one must keep up
with. The stories “I Stand Here Ironing” and “Everyday Use” both address the issue of mother’s guilt
over how her children turn out. Both mothers blame themselves for their daughter’s problems. In
addition, three characters from “The Rich Brother,” “Two Kinds,” and “Forgiving my Father” are very
similar in their attitudes toward other significant family members: they all show a lack of
understanding and for that matter a lack of inclination to try understanding. And in “The Love of My
Life,” by T. C. Boyle, China and Jeremy are so in love and having a baby never occurred to them. Like
many situations today, the parents are the last to know after the tragedy occurs. [On presentation: each
short text’s title must be placed within quotation marks; I stopped doing it for the first paragraph, but it
is not reader-friendly in the below!]
Everyday Use, Two Kinds and I Stand Here Ironing are all focused on mothers that have
concerns about one of their daughters. The authors tell the stories through the point of view of the
mothers and are focused on their roles and the conflicts that develop in their relationships with their
daughters. In the story I Stand Here Ironing, Olsen suggests that the role of a selfless mother which
society expects women to embrace is actually an obstacle to any kind of successful self-discovery.
When describing her relationship with her daughter it seems to be an estranged relationship. Suyuun,
Jing-mei's mother in Two Kinds, wants her to be a child prodigy, yet she cannot perform to Suyuun's
expectations. Suyuun is only attuned to her own desires for Jing-mei’s life. Both girls in the stories
have obvious issues with their mothers and it molds them into who they become when they are older
and become adults. In Walker’s “Everyday Use”, the mother is the narrator and she is described as a
hardworking woman, who is able to take on the jobs of men and to work all day long outside. However,
the mother is very limited in her education. Hence, when Dee is able to go off to college, Mama begins
to despise her education and the intellect she displays on her visits home.
In each of the stories about men, “My Rich Brother” and “Sonny's Blues,” two brothers raised
by the same parents turn out to be wholly different when they become adults. For instance: Pete, in
Tobias Wolfe's The Rich Brother, is closed-minded and harshly critical when it comes to how his
brother Donald see's the world. Donald tries every chance he has to help others even when it is
detrimental to himself. Pete does not have any tolerance for his brother's actions unless it will give him
the time to berate or belittle him.
Family is supposed to be there for guidance and support. Nonetheless, sometimes our best
intentions have unintended and negative consequences. In Everyday Use the mother does not outright
admit that she feels guilty, but there is a glimpse of it when Dee is trying very hard to claim the
handmade quilts. Towards the end of I Stand Here Ironing, Emily’s mother admits that “my wisdom
came too late.” The mothers unknowingly gave Emily and Maggie a second best treatment. Jing-Mei in
Two Kinds was struggling to do what her mother wanted so she stopped playing the piano and ended
up not to trying too hard at anything because of her expectations of failure. Suyuun pushed her
daughter past her capabilities, at least at the time. In both Sonny's Blues and The Rich Brother, one
brother seems to be fairly well-to-do and living a picture perfect family life with a wife, children and a
job, whereas the other brother is struggling with his own issues, e.g., drugs, religion, and acceptance.
[It is not clear to me where section 1 ends and section 2 begins. Nor is it clear what “the author
proposes in his or her ideological/philosophical/political/spiritual assertions” (from the instructions for
section 2). Is there any implicit argument being made about “the larger systems (social, political,
economic, and ideological, etc.)” of family that these works represent? Any hint that the texts aim
to change the way that we think about families?]
The rhetoric that is used in this selection of stories about family includes the narrative mode, in
particular, when it uses pathos to connect with the reader. In the story “I Stand Here Ironing,” Olsen
uses ironing as a metaphor to represent the chores and responsibilities that prevented the narrator from
engaging with Emily’s life more profoundly. The repetitive motion of the iron moving back and forth
across the surface mimics the narrator’s thought processes as she moves back and forth over her life as
a mother, attempting to identify the source of Emily’s current difficulties. Therefore, the narrator’s final
wish is that Emily will have a strong sense of self-worth and believe that she is more than the dress that
is “helpless before the iron” [ADD the page number at least!]. This comment suggests that the narrator
hopes that Emily will be able to transcend the narrator’s mistakes. The heaviness of the iron compares
to the idea of the burdens a single-mother must carry while the quilt signifies comfort, warmth, and
love for a mother’s children. Unlike the iron, a quilt creates an affectionate sensation, rather than a
burning emotional pain. [Enough already about the iron!]
When in [title of story], Jing-Mei's mother gives her the piano from her youth for her thirtieth
birthday, Jing-Mei is surprised at how easy it is for her to play. Maybe her mother really did discern
talent in her that she did not want to acknowledge. She also notices another piece of music title
“Perfectly Content” in the piano and plays it, realizing that it is an accompaniment to “Pleading Child,”
the song from her youth, indeed from the recital she played so badly at. It is not hard to see how
“Pleading Child” was a good song choice for a rebellious youth, and that “Perfectly Content” is a good
song for a now grown up and accepting Jing-Mei.[Here again, more concision is needed, so that you
can get more info into this “paper”…]
The major theme in these stories about family the fact that one wants the best for family
members. It appears that one should be willing to go out of one’s way to make sure they have it. This
can include antagonizing them for their own good as in “The Rich Brother,” although the outcome in
that case is debatable. Certainly, all the stories about mother-daughter relationships are steeped in
difficulties. In each, the daughter has formed decisions and determinations, which are based on a
child’s limited experience and perceptions—and which prove to be contrary to the mother’s hopes and
desires. The chief difference in that one mother is trying too hard while the other mother is unwillingly
negligent. And sometimes what a parent would think has a positive influence actually turns out to have
a negative result and vice-versa. Ultimately it almost seems like all families are dysfunctional and
stressful. Yet families and family issues are very diverse and the issues and how they are dealt with are,
too. As Tolstoy once said, “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own
way.”
Works Cited
[Not bad, but “Ed.” and alphabetical order need fixing. Original date of publication might help as well!
DB]
Tan, Amy. "Two Kinds." Arguing About Literature: A Guide and Reader. Schilb, John and John
Clifford, eds. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. 240-248. Print.
Wolf, Tobias. "The Rich Brother.” Arguing About Literature: A Guide and Reader. Schilb, John and
John Clifford. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. 258-271. Print.
Lee, Li-Young. "My father, in Heaven, Is Reading Out Loud." Arguing About Literature: A Guide and
Reader. Schilb, John and John Clifford. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. 320-321. Print.
Walker, Alice. "Everyday Use." Arguing About Literature: A Guide and Reader. Schilb, John and John
Clifford. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. 249-256. Print.
Olsen, Tillie. "I Stand Here Ironing.” Arguing About Literature: A Guide and Reader. Schilb, John and
John Clifford. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. 233-239. Print.
Boyle, T. Coraghessan. "The Love of My Life." Arguing About Literature: A Guide and Reader.
Schilb, John and John Clifford. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. 301-314. Print.
Plath, Sylvia. "Daddy." Arguing About Literature: A Guide and Reader. Schilb, John and John
Clifford. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. 345-347. Print.
Tolstoy, Leo. Anna Karenina. New York: Bantam Books, 1981.