To Set Our House In Order Analysis

Overall, Betty Jo has a positive outlook on life. She likes to live in the moment and treat each day as if it were her last, as cliché as that sounds. Betty Jo’s father passed away when she was nineteen years old and she says that that really affected her point of view on life. Her father was a physically healthy forty-one-year-old at the time of his death and he died of a heart attack while refereeing the local high school’s boys’ basketball game one evening. This event seemed to have a deep impact on Betty Jo’s life.

As time goes on, a person over time starts to understand the reality known as life, she should mature and leave behind a time that once used to be known as childhood. In this essay the author and her family will be traveling to different places which will show how her mom’s foolishness had an affect on the lives of her and her siblings. First, they go to the desert where things get out of control and Jeannette gets injured, then they go to Welch where Rose Mary tells her kids to do something that is not matured and adult like and at last they go to New York, where Rose Mary was still homeless by making decisions that had a bad impact on her and the others around her. The first place that they go to is The Desert.

They didn’t know what to do when they found out that she was pregnant; they were young, they didn’t have any money, they were scared, they didn’t want to tell anybody, they didn’t know what to do, and the only option that they could see was to terminate the pregnancy. So that’s what they decided to do… they went to a clinic, they had the procedure done, and at first they felt relieved that all their problems had gone away. But then something happened that they did not expect… and that’s over the next few weeks, which turned into a few months, they began to feel an intense sadness… and a pain and an agony and a guilt that wouldn’t go away. They didn’t know what to do, so they finally went to see a counselor; they said look — tell us what to do, we just don’t know, and the counselor made a suggestion. The counselor said here’s what you need to do — stop acting like you had a procedure, and act like you had a death in the family.”

Thank goodness, she turned out alright. But I’ll never risk it again. Never! The strain is simply too - too hellish,” (36). Larsen uses words provoking anxiety and horror to give the reader insight into Clare’s mind when she thinks about pregnancy and motherhood.

Societal expectations are a part of everyone’s life, male or female. From the day people are born, there are roles they are expected to assume-- wife, homemaker, father, provider, mother and many others. While these aren’t necessarily negative, the stigma of not fulfilling these roles can be unpleasant. While the roles we are supposed to choose aren’t always clearly defined, the judgement that comes from choosing to take certain actions in life, like settling down or becoming a mother is palpable. Throughout The House on Mango Street, Esperanza’s view of the world is largely shaped by the people around her, which are her neighbors, family, and friends.

Margaret Laurence, was born on the 18th of July in 1923 in Neepawa, Manitoba. In her childhood, she experienced parental loss: her mother died of acute kidney infection when she was four. And then her maternal aunt came and raised her. When she was nine, her father died of pneumonia. In “The Loons” Vanessa’s father also

When she was young, she could not process the way her father raised and treated her, so she believed everything he said. When she is able to understand, her tone changes and becomes clinical and critical remembering the way he constantly let her

Seeing her mother again, and what she’s done with her life after years of separation shocks her, shown with “When she looked up, I was overcome with panic that she’d see me and call out my name... And mom would introduce herself, and my secret would be out.” [Walls, 3]. She grew up, escaped, and put her poor childhood behind her.

In the pastoralization of housework, woman found a new dynamic in the family system by becoming influencers. Boydston writes, “‘...in which wives were described as deities “who presides over the sanctities of domestic life, and administer its sacred rights….”” With the romanization of housework woman found themselves placed on a higher pedestal, and with this newly found power, women were able to influence their husband’s decisions. Women during the Antebellum period were described as “holy and pious” and they were seen as the more religious being out of the two sexes, so it was customary for women to use their power to help the family stay on the right path. Mrs. A. J. Graves supported this idea and directly connects women’s role of taking care of the home to a station which God and nature assigned her.

Sethe embraces the dominant values of idealised maternity. Sethe’s fantasy is

The poem Dusting by Julia Alverez relays several ideas to the reader. It begins by describing a young child going about a house and writing their name on the furniture. The child 's mother follows behind her and, in the process of dusting, incidentally erases the writing. While this poem may seem superficial from a quick reading, it not only reflects some aspects of Alverez’s childhood, but it also reveals some thought provoking questions. In Dusting, through making an analogy to a relationship between a mother and her child, Julia Alvarez demonstrates her desire to break away from traditional or cultural expectations, express her individuality, be well-known, and, ultimately, she makes an important point about life.

A personal belief that many people have is that puppies are one of the most adorable creatures in the world. The young, energetic, playfulness of one can bring joy and love to people who are a fan of dogs. The story by George Saunders titled “puppy” brings to light the youthful nature of children and how they are like puppies needing understanding and guidance. On the adult side of the spectrum, adults may not always make the best decisions just like puppies when it comes to making choices about the people they love and having clear judgment. The story is set in the belief that we prioritize the people we love based on the conditions and choices that come with that person.

This shows what she had to endure to try to keep her baby healthy. It appeals to the loving protective side of the reader. It makes them think about what the baby must be going through beacuase of their economic situation. Rhetorical questions are used to directly engage the

While reading the story, you can tell in the narrators’ tone that she feels rejected and excluded. She is not happy and I’m sure, just like her family, she wonders “why her?” She is rejected and never accepted for who she really is. She is different. She’s not like anyone else

Esperanza’s house on Mango Street is not the house she dreamed on when she lived on Loomis Street, not the kind of house her parent’s talked about, not the house she wanted. Her house on Mango Street is a small, red house with even smaller stairs leading to the door. The brick are falling out of place and to get inside, one must shove the door, swollen like Esperanza’s feet in later vignettes, open. Once inside, where you are never very far from someone else, there are small hallway stairs that lead to the only one shared bedroom and bathroom. This house is just, “For the time being,”[5] Esperanza claims, for this is nothing like the house she longs for.