Essay on Everyday Use and Glass Menagerie: Family Struggles and Complexities

Alice Walker's short story "Everyday Use" and Tennessee William's "Glass Menagerie" are both stories which are based on family. "Everyday Use" is about a rural African American family which was involved in a struggle over interpersonal roles. The narrator is the mother of the family. On the other hand, "Glass Menagerie" is a play that provides a rare glimpse into the lives of the members of a small complex family. The play is episodic rather than climactic in nature whereby the episodes tale place through a course of small events that are part of a larger theme. Family disputes tend to affect the relationships of the family members due to indifference in their way of thinking. The family characteristic and temperament among the family members lead to dissension where they do not agree with each other. Family discord can be noticed both in Everyday use and the play "Glass Menagerie". This essay seeks to compare family dissension in the two literary works. To achieve this, the essay will discuss the concept of family as presented in the two works, the effects both good and bad created by families as well as how realistic family dissension is presented in the two works of literature.

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"Everyday Use," tells a story of a mother who narrates the story of her daughter from college and the family conflict which engulfs between her two daughters. The narrator gives descriptions of her daughter's Maggie and Dee, personality and looks. From this description, the reader of the audience can identify some antagonism as the two daughters are the opposite of each other. The family dispute is a portrait between the relationship of Dee, Maggie, and Mama. This is shown when Mama starts recalling about Dee's childhood, her character and how she behaves. Dee is the most problematic child who does not go along with the rest (Sarnowski 269). Despite that disagreement on most occasions, Mama still loves her and eagerly awaits her return for a family reunion. Maggie believes in the traditions and values of her cultures which makes her experiences with her sister Dee. Laura also supports the benefits which are brought about by the traditions since they determine the values of people in their lives. Mama also tries to change the perception of Dee so that she can believe in heritage as their traditions, but she is reluctant hence causing discord in their ideologies.

Similarly, family dissension is also portrayed in the play, "Glass Menagerie". The play entirely focuses on family relationships. In this play, Tom is seen as a character who does not interact freely with Amanda, his mother. According to Tom kept irritating when they are having a meal with her nagging. Amanda kept telling Tom the way he chews food and pointing fingers to Tom every moment she noticed something strange, which made Tom feel annoyed (Fordyce 268). It reaches a point where Tom does not withstand the form of harassment and humiliation and tells Amanda that he had not enjoyed the meal because of frequent monitoring and commands on how she should eat.

The family in Glass Menagerie portrays the southern family who tries to deal with the issues which are happening in their lives and fear which arose after their father and husband deserted them. Tom's father has been away from his family for sixteen years. Tom tries to follow his father's footsteps as he walks away from his family so that he can find happiness. After moving away from his family, he feels guilty for leaving Laura. Tom does not experience peace since Laura's memory continues to haunt him. Therefore, this makes the fathers in this play to become irresponsible since they run away from their duties in the family (Fordyce 250). Tom has tension due to the action which was taken by his father hence making him feel unhappy. The unhappiness among Tom contributes to family dissension which makes him not to listen to his mother, but he decides to walk away like his father.

In the "Glass Menagerie", the family portrays the responsibility of family members and the gender roles represented by individuals in the family. In the play, men must bring funds to the family which should be used in catering for the family. In most families, the children take after their parents. For example, in the play, Tom follows the suit of his father by leaving the family thus making Amanda start wishing that her daughter was also popular like her. Mothers in the family are responsible for ensuring their children possess the appropriate etiquette and making sure they attain their life goals. Tom's mother reprimanded Tom when they were taking dinner so that he can maintain decorum during meals (Fordyce 250). Also, Tom is responsible for ensuring his sister Laura is okay.

In the story, "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker, the family's concept is determined by the world heritage, which represents the African- American culture and the family thoughts, items and traditions. For example, in this story, Maggie and her mother believe the word heritage represents their family's traditions. The two women only care for the family's traditions since they are the only ones which they have ever known. Dee believes that the word heritage represents the African-American culture. Maggie and her mother believe these traditions preserve the family values, making them not to lose sight of who they are. Dee felt a detachment from when she was young thus making her not to value the family's heritage (Sarnowski 269). Since Dee is learned, she tries to understand their family's culture, but she does not want to follow the traditions of her family.

Family according to the two works of literature results to good and bad deeds which influence the family members both negatively and positively. In the story, "Everyday Use" Maggie and Mama followed the family's traditions and values which made them believe they determined the direction they should take in their lives. This scenario clearly shows that families help children learn about the values and customs of the family. These values support the child to follow specific directions thus shaping their lives. In the short story, Mama tried to change Dee who believes heritage represents the African American culture. Mama's actions were meant to make Dee aware of the African-American heritage. Mama had the obligation to ensure that her children were aware of the societal traditions and norms. Therefore, the family plays a significant role in educating the society on the treasure societal values and norms (Sarnowski 269).

Families also help children and other members to learn about their duties and their roles in society. Males in the families are termed to be the provider and protectors of their family members. Men are to ensure that the family member is comfortable and do not lack any essential thing in their lives. In "Glass Menagerie" play every individual in the family has their duties and responsibilities. Tom was the head of the family and provider of the family, this is clearly shown when Tom fails to pay the electricity bills which results in power being cut off (Fordyce 117). The family has the duty of educating their children which is evidenced in the book.

Some of the actions which are experienced in different families affect the kids negatively. Parents are the role models to their children, and thus children follow what they see their parents doing to other family members. In the "Glass Menagerie", Toms' father ran away from his family leaving his wife and children to suffer. Later Tom decided to escape and goes away from his family the just like the way his father had done. After running away from home, Tom starts to regret due to the actions he had taken earlier has he felt he had failed to be there for his family to provide support. This, therefore, indicates that some actions taken by family members result may either influence the family negatively or positively.

Inherited characteristic of people contributes to family discord throughout a person's life since they tend to have different temperaments. Some individuals tend to be emotional and reactive than others making them not to get along with others quickly. Family unity and oneness tends to become crippled whenever the emotional impulsivity overrules the thoughts and actions of others. This is portrayed in the "Glass Menagerie" whereby Tom fails to listen to his mother when she talked about maintaining table manners (Fordyce 250). The emotions of Tom overruled his actions when he decided to walk away and follow his father's steps. In "Everyday Use", Dee tends to believe in the cultural aspect of the African-American culture. Since Dee is learned she tends to think differently from her mother and sister which makes her follow her direction (Farrell 179).

The culture of the family might lead to family disputes where they judge some customs and traditions in their perceptions. The difference in opinion among family members resulted in situations whereby the members fail to come into terms with one another which leads to disruptions and discord. The opinion of Dee on the traditions which Maggie and her mother believed resulted in the disagreement among them in the "Everyday Use" story. Due to various meaning on heritage among these individuals made them not to settle under the main decision due to the difference they had perceiving heritage. Also, family discord results in situations where family members fail to acknowledge the opinions of one another. In the play, "Glass Menagerie", Tom's mother does not want to listen to his son and daughter since she has tensions the action by her husband to run away from the family. Tom also develops anxiety which makes him not to listen to his mother when she tries to talk to him concerning the decision he is making of moving out (Farrell 179). Therefore, feeling least listened to makes the family members feel not appreciated leading to a family dispute.

Conclusion

In conclusion, family dissension is observed in both works of Alice Walker's short story "Everyday Use" and Tennessee William's "Glass Menagerie". The relationship of Dee, Maggie, and Mama in "Everyday Use" story are defined by disputes which are portrayed in a number of scenes. At the same time, family disputes exist between family members in the "Glass Menagerie". Family dissension is common to every family despite the culture and society. Disagreements are bound to occur in any relationship; however, what differs are the causes of the disputes.

Works Cited

Farrell, Susan. "Fight vs. Flight: a re-evaluation of Dee in Alice Walker's" Everyday Use"." Studies in Short Fiction 35.2 (1998): 179.

Fordyce, William. "Tennessee Williams's Tom Wingfield and Georg Kaiser's Cashier: A Contextual Comparison." Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie 34.3 (2007): 117.

Sarnowski, Joe. "Destroying to Save: Idealism and Pragmatism in Alice Walker's" Everyday Use"." Papers on Language and Literature 48.3 (2012): 269.