English essay
1/10/03

Is she or was she "daddy's little girl?"

            The love little girls have for their father seems never-ending. The love enables girls to go to their fathers when they scrape their knee or feel the need to cry.  The times a father and a daughter spend alone will never vanish. However, there comes a time when some relationships between a father and a daughter drift apart. In other cases, a girl might never develop a relationship at all with her father, and as they get older, it becomes harder for them to communicate. In the novel, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, by Carson McCullers and in the essay, "No More Lollipops," by Debra Adams, Mick's relationship with her father is both similar and different from Debra's relationship with her father. Mick and her father try to establish a relationship where they can communicate well with one another. On the other hand, Debra and her father used to be extremely close until one morning she wakes up and things have changed.  Debra wishes to be "daddy's little girl" again.
            In the novel, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, all Mick's father, Wilbur, wants is to feel like he is a real use to the family. Since he does not earn much money and because none on his children go to him to talk, he feels he is separated from the rest of the family. He is a lonesome, old man and he wants to be close to one of his children. Since they are all very busy, they do not realize how he feels lonely, except for Mick. Wilbur feels as though he is not much use to his family. This makes Mick feel strange. Many times if Mick heard someone call her name, she would run away pretending she did not hear them. However, if her dad calls her, she could not run away from him, even if she is in a huge hurry. Mick said, "There was something about her dad's voice she couldn't run away from" (83). One night, she is in a big rush to be at this house by 9:00 pm sharp, but her dad calls her because he wants to talk to someone.  This was the time when she realizes how he is lonely and he wants a relationship with one of his children. Mick says, "Her Dad just stared at her" (84).  Her dad gives Mick a dime as if he tries to bribe her to stay and talk.  Despite the fact that Mick is in a big rush, she tells her father she has all the time he wants. They talk about accounts and expenses, but Mick could not tell him the facts in her mind, about her secrets and what she did during the summer nights.  It is ironic that Wilbur chooses to become close with Mick out of all of his children because Mick always thinks about the inside room, her secret place, and the outside room, her outer self.  Mr. Singer is the only person currently in her special inside room.  She says, "She talked to him more than she had ever talked to a person before" (207). At no point does she say her father is in the inside room, showing that she does not have a special connection to him.  It also shows that she talks more to Mr. Singer and feels more comfortable with him then she feels with her father. 
             Another father daughter relationship is described by Debra Adams in the essay, "No More Lollipops." Debra begins by reflecting on her childhood memories that she shared with her father.  She remembers how every night, she would go on her father's shoulders and when they got downstairs he would pretend that he did not know how she got down to the couch.  Debra would try not to laugh and her father would smile showing that this was their little secret. Debra states, "And it seemed like nothing pleased me more than that ride on my father's shoulders, night after night."  She says that one morning she woke up and she was not "daddy's little girl" anymore.  She could not go to him when she scrapped her knee, there were no more piggyback rides, no more kisses, and there was no pride in his voice when he introduced her to his clients or temple members.  There is no longer a little girl in her to run to her dad.  She feels like, "Sometimes, I wish I could go back in time, or else stay fifteen but know only what I knew when I was five."  Therefore, people cannot get hurt when they do not understand many things.  She wants to be her daddy's little girl again, even though one day everyone has to become their own person and grow up.  The use of imagery used by Debra paints a picture in the reader's head of her childhood memories with her dad.  Debra says, "And I would try to hide my laugh, and he would give me a little grin that meant this was our little secret."  The reader can picture Debra having fun riding down the stairs on her dad's shoulder every night.  The reader can visualize Debra laughing and sitting on the couch listening to her dad pretend that he did not know how she got there.  The imagery portrays how close Debra and her dad were, until one morning when things changed. 
            Mick's relationship with her father is both similar and different from Debra's relationship with her father.  In both relationships, one of them is trying to connect better with the other.  Even though, Wilbur pushes to be close with Mick and Debra wants to be close again with her dad, in both relationships one of them is trying to bond with their loved one.  In The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Wilbur tries to develop a relationship with Mick.  He tries to communicate with her because he feels like he is cut off from the family.  He said, "He only wanted real bad to talk to her" (84).  He wants to make a connection with one of his children, but everyone is too busy for him.  He just wants to talk to Mick and hopes to establish a good relationship.  This is different from Debra's relationship with her father.  In "No More Lollipops," Debra and her dad had an amazing relationship when Debra was younger.  They had a secret together about sneaking downstairs every night.  Suddenly one morning, Debra was no longer "daddy's little girl."  Debra wishes, "And how I wish, at those times, that I could be daddy's little girl all over again."  The difference is, in Mick's case, Wilbur pushes for the relationship and in Debra's case, Debra pushes for the relationship. 
            The novel, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, by Carson McCullers and the essay, "No More Lollipops," by Debra Adams both describe relationships between daughters and their father's.  Although neither daughter has a good relationship with their father, they both love them very much.  The love for their father's will never fade away no matter the distant between them.  After all, the love a daughter has for her father is very special and everlasting.