Nella Larsen's Passing Analysis

The most noteworthy conflicts were balancing motherhood and her role as a political figure. For example, during her tenure as an activist, strangers and colleagues benefited from her affection, time and devotion. Whereas, her children did not and this ultimately negatively impacted her children's lives in their failed social relationships. Another role conflict that she experienced was her role as daughter-in-law and mother. Often, in public opinion Eleanor was branded as a bad mother, which was an unfair observation from outsiders which weren't privy to her authority being emasculated on a daily basis by her mother-in-law.

The reader can clearly infer that Melinda’s thoughts and feelings about her family are negative. Melinda struggles with her mother’s inability to face the truth that they are not a happy family. She is upset that her mother is striving to keep the title of “a happy family” instead of creating an environment where a happy family could strive. Melinda’s parents are a large part of her life, and therefore, they play a major role in her society. The way that she describes her feelings towards her father is that he is lazy and unwilling to work seriously.

The blind man’s wife had recently died and that’s why he was coming to visit. The narrator thought it was absurd that he was able to have a wife, he says it “ was beyond my understanding” (11). He even said how he started to feel sorry for the blind man for a minute then he began to think about the predicament the wife was in, and only the narrator thought was a bad situation. With him not trying to see the deeper effect they might’ve had on each other, he says, “And then I found myself thinking what a pitiful life this woman must have led. Imagine a woman who could never see herself as she was seen in the eyes of her loved one” (11).

Bailey’s indifference towards his mother is indicative of what their relationship has been over the years from his childhood and into his adulthood. Bailey seems sick of the grandmother living with and being around him. The grandmother is very irritating to her family, and that shows throughout the story by their unwillingness to speak with her. “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is set in the mid 20th century, and presumably in the middle of the civil rights movement. The grandmother is an outcast from her own family by still expressing her outdated beliefs about African-Americans.

One subject they tend to talk about often is motherhood. Larsen continues her use of character foiling through the contrasting of Irene’s and Clare’s feelings about motherhood to emphasize how their contrasting situations influence their feelings. Clare does not enjoy being a mother. She believes that it is too much pressure, especially because she doesn’t want her daughter’s skin to reveal that she has a black parent. She says, “I nearly died of terror the whole nine months before Margery was born for fear she might be dark.

The Bellmont’s hatred is a constant factor in Frado’s life. Frado wonders why God made her if people do not care for her beyond what she can do for them. She says, “No mother, father, brother or sister to care for me, and then it is, You lazy nigger, lazy nigger- all because I am black!” (Wilson 75). The hatred Frado experiences over her skin color is one factor of Frados existence that gives her a sense of identity and shapes who she is and how she lives in this society. Eventually, Frado tries to combat this constant hatred bestowed upon her from the Bellmont’s by finding her voice.

In Of Mice and Men, Curley’s wife can be analyzed as being lonely and self-obsessed. Curley’s wife is very lonely because she is the only female on the ranch, and Curley doesn’t pay much attention to her. Curley would much rather talk about himself, and the only reason she married Curley was to get away from her mother. Curley’s wife had a dream of being in the show business, but she believed her mother sabotaged her career which again is why she married Curley. Curley’s wife’s loneliness also prompts her to become self-obsessed.

Nella Larsen’s novel Quicksand shows the struggle of an African-American woman by the name of Helga Crane. It is hard for Helga to truly find what she is looking for and what she desires. Helga fears her desires because they seem to confirm the stereotypes about blacks. Helga is the daughter of a black father who abandoned his family and daughter of a danish mother. The dark-skinned Helga grows up ostracized by both whites and blacks, surviving a lonely childhood only to spend her adult life continuing to seek acceptance wherever she goes.

This reveals that Mattie has negative attitude towards her mother, in addition to Mother having a poor attitude towards Mattie. Some may argue that both characters will always be negative with one another. Clearly, this is not the case because in the end they both realized their mistakes.. In the beginning of Fever 1793 Mattie and her Mother show a negative relationship, whereas the second half of the story, their relationship is good. When Mother

Even with a humble and understanding husband who would go above and beyond to make her happy she is still unhappy. Blessed with a beautiful physical beauty, but not the affluent lifestyle that she yearns for, which lead her to continuously seek for what she cannot posses. Her greed for a lavish lifestyle stop her from enjoying her basic life and to constantly judging what she posses ''She suffered from the poorness of her house, from its mean walls, worn chairs, and ugly curtains. All these things, of which other women of her class would not even have been aware, tormented and insulted her'' (Maupassant 7). Mathilde always imagined herself in a high social position with wonderful jewels and expensive clothing instead she have to wear simple clothing.