Literary works come to light and take on meaning through their surrounding
realities; when a book is engaged by a reader, it magnificently comes to
resemble the actuality where the readers subsist. While a considerable
number of people may detect the features of their mothers in the judiciously
practical woman of the story Everyday in Use, I recognized traits of my mother
from the story Getting a Job, where a more actively devoted woman breathes.
My mother is similar to the mother in Getting a Job in the manner she most
avidly nourishes her children with her utmost effort. Raising the kids
wholeheartedly indicates the attitude of willing to sacrifice part of a
mother��s life, and putting all their effort to support and teach the children
to be righteous and luminous people. When I was preparing myself to get accepted
by the special high school, I needed an exceptional education available
only in Seoul, though I lived in Wonju, a small city two hours away. My mother,
a professor that spends most of her time at university, decided to give me
a ride, even though she herself was extremely exhausted and stressed.
Like my mother, Marguerite��s mother in Getting a Job strived to support
Marguerite, yet Dee�� mother in Everyday Use passively supported her children.
Before Marguerite acquired job as a conductorette, even though the mother believed
the streetcar authority did not hire blacks, she did not forbid Marguerite to
pursue the job, and even assisted her with prudent aphorisms (Angelou 413, 14-37).
After Marguerite attained her job, her mother supported her by accommodating her
schedule to fit Marguerite��s i.e. being ready to work at four thirty in the morning,
or picking her up when Marguerite was released just before dawn (Angelou 416, 38-52).
On the other hand, the mother in Everyday Use was quite passive in raising her
children. She had ceaseless conflicts with Dee, and did not provide dictum to
Dee or Maggie, even though they needed discipline and structure (Walker 504-512).
In conclusion, by critically comparing the two mothers in Getting a Job and
Everyday Use, I came to the decision that my mother is more similar to
Marguerite��s mother. Both my mother and Marguerite��s mother nourished and
encouraged their children wholeheartedly, yet Dee��s mother was more lax and
somewhat negligent in raising her children. All in all, diligent endeavors in
fostering the offspring is key for a parent to be ultimately respected by children,
since unlike Dee��s mother, my mom and Marguerite��s mom are remarkably admired
by their children.