Preview

Twyla vs Hazel

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
772 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Twyla vs Hazel
Twyla vs. Hazel Early adolescence is one of the most confusing and challenging stages of childhood. It is an age that is too young to be grown, but too grown to be young. Adolescents feel as though they are of the same maturity level as the adults that they idolize, and quickly get frustrated when they are not perceived as such. Morrison and Bambara have written two, very easily relatable stories of a couple of girls who are stuck right in the middle of this very struggle. The characters Hazel and young Twyla bare resemblance in numerous ways. Both young ladies are very young, have very naïve views of the world, and have been disappointed by an adult in their lives. In Recitatif, Twyla’s young age is revealed early on: “We were eight years old and got F’s all the time.” (Morrison 130) Hazel’s youth becomes evident in Gorilla, My Love when she refers to the adults around her by saying, “Grownups figure they can treat you just anyhow.” (Bambara 295) She also shows her age when she acts the way she does in the movie theatre, shouting at the matron and throwing popcorn on page 295. The age of both girls plays a vital role in their reactions to things that happen to them as the stories progress. It is easy to imagine both of them attending the same school, being in the same class, and possibly having interest in the same things. Due in large part to their ages, both Twyla and Hazel have a very naïve and childish view of the world. Subjects and social queues that seem simple to most adults are misunderstood or made simplistic by the girls. When referring to her mother on page 130, Twyla remarks, “She just likes to dance all night.” (Morrison) What Twyla thinks of as dancing all of the time, many adults would suggest tie to her mother’s profession as an exotic dancer. Also, when Twyla thinks back to her memory of Maggie, (Morrison 131), she seems to have no concept of proper political correctness surrounding mental retardation and disabilities. These naïve


Cited: Booth, Alison and Kelly J. Mays, eds. The Norton Introduction to Literature. 10th ed. New York: Norton, 2010. Print. Bambara, Toni Cade. “Gorilla, My Love.” Booth and Mays. 294-298. Print. Morrison, Toni. “Recitatif.” Booth and Mays. 130-145. Print.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    She then explains how she took up drawing. She also discovers the Homewood Library, what she describes as “the most private and obscure part of life”. She then explains how she has been slowly developing into an adult. As a thirteen year old she began to perceive the world more similarly to how adults perceived the world. She also talked about her discovering a deeper history of World War II.…

    • 440 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Cited: Perkins, George, and Barbara Perkins. The American Tradition in Literature. 12th. New York City: McGrawHill, 2009. Print.…

    • 1232 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Poet Maya Angelo aptly stated, “I am convinced that most people do not grow up... We carry accumulation of years in our bodies, and on our faces, but generally our real selves, the children inside, are innocent and shy as magnolias.” Similarly, Sandra Cisneros’s “Eleven” illuminates the enigmatic journey of growing up through the sagacious eyes of an eleven year old child. As the speaker of this work asserts, the aging process does not eradicate a person’s previous self. Instead, it accumulates layers of one’s former years and creates a realistic portrait of one’s complete existence. Cisneros’s work illustrates mankind’s maddening, internal struggle as it ages in this manner. When life demands maturity, one inadvertently becomes the sobbing three year old, the introverted adolescent, or the awkward teen of one’s past. The speaker of this literary work, Rachel, embodies this frustrating process of growing up. Undoubtedly, Cisneros employs similes, repetition, and imagery as well as symbols and diction to characterize Rachel as she matures.…

    • 1151 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Twyla is first shown as a protagonist, a young girl who demands the readers’ sympathy as she resides in an orphanage. As the story develops, we start to notice how unreliable she is as a narrator. Her story about Maggie changes every time we hear it. Was she really black? Did the girls push her? Twyla seems to be stuck in a child-like state, classifying people as “mean girls” and not taking blame for Maggie’s accident.…

    • 431 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    "Saplings in the Storm"

    • 529 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Mary Pipher addresses the dramatic changes handled by adolescent girls. With tone, Pipher clearly relates how she feels about her topic. Words like “dramatic,” “chaos,” and “shattered” show the writer’s mood as serious, sad, and slightly dark. She uses heavy descriptions when describing how the girls feel and change. Her tone depicts the readiness of what the young girls deal with, and how it affects the people around them. Pipher’s tone in “Saplings in the Storm” is enough to make her readers think about what some adolescent girls might be hiding under the surface.…

    • 529 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lee was a public relations executive and Bob had just been named co-anchor of ABC’s World News Tonight. Then, while Bob was embedded with the military in Iraq, an improvised explosive device went off near the tank he was riding in. He and his cameraman, Doug Vogt, were hit, and Bob suffered a traumatic brain injury that nearly killed him.…

    • 1554 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Nun of a Different Cloth

    • 1584 Words
    • 7 Pages

    References: Baym, N., Franklin, W., Gura, P., Klinkowitz, J., Krupat, A., Levine, R., et al. (2008). The norton anthology of american literature. New York: W.M. Norton & Company, Inc.…

    • 1584 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the story, A & P the theme highlights adolescence in which the author resonates young woman and men who are coming of age. First, the innocence of three carefree girls unashamed of wearing their bathing suits in a non-beach setting attracts the attention of Sammy, a nineteen year old male who works at the A & P grocery store. Second, the author describes the girls through Sammy as the protagonist who admires their bodies and using vivid imagery to describe their physical appearance of these young girls from a male’s point of view. Sammy describes each of the girls in detail, admiring their bodies and finds one of the three girls most attractive calling her Queenie. To contrast the beauty of these girls, Sammy describes the older women…

    • 395 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Hawthorne, N. (2009). Young Goodman Brown. In M. Myers, The Compact Bedford Introdution to Literature (pp. 325-333). Boston: Bedford/St.Martin 's.…

    • 1670 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    [ 11 ]. Bennett, A. and Royle, N. An Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory (4th Ed.) (Harlow: Pearson, 2009) p.39.…

    • 1386 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Better Essays

    We can tell that by the way the two girls acted and reacted in similar situations that Roberta seemed to have had a better home life than Twyla who felt that Thanksgiving was hot mashed potatoes and two weenies. (Morrison 132) Throughout the years, the reader can see just how much of a difference there is between Roberta and Twyla. First, when their moms came to visit, Roberta’s mom brought “chicken legs and ham sandwiches and oranges and a whole box of chocolate-covered grahams” (Morrison 135-136) while Twyla and her mom “picked fur and cellophane grass off the mashed jelly beans and ate them.” (Morrison 135) Roberta’s mom wouldn’t even shake Mary, Twyla’s mother’s, hand because of the prejudice she had against her race. As the time grew it seems as though Roberta proceeded to take her mother’s place. When they met in the diner Roberta acts as if she is not at all interested in Twyla and her life. Again, Roberta seems superior when they cross paths at the store and Roberta seems to be of a higher class, with diamonds on her hands and a fancy dress. She even had her own car and driver, something that Twyla didn’t have. Roberta seemed well-off while Twyla just seemed content with her life at the…

    • 1414 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout a child’s life, especially a girl's, they must face the decision to be their own person or give into peer pressure. In The Semplica-Girl Diaries by George Saunders, sisters, Eva and Lily face opposing opinions upon serious social issues. Told through the father’s diaries is a story of fitting in with society and how it affects the youth. After going to a party, Lily starts to yearn for things that her family can not afford. But with a stroke of luck Lily is able to get the things that she thinks will allow her to fit in and be popular. Lily’s age and blindness causes her to be easily corrupted by society whereas Eva’s age and innocence enables her to go against societal pressures.…

    • 624 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the beginning of each of the writing’s we are immediately portrayed the description of how both Maggie and Laura are not only shy and timid but we experience their lack of self confidence that each of them share. In “Everyday Use” after Alice Walker gives a brief description of the Johnson’s front yard, she instantly explains the lack of confidence that Maggie has for herself due to the scars that were caused by the house fire. “Maggie will be nervous until after her sister goes: she will stand hopelessly in corners, homely and ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs, eyeing her sister with a mixture of envy and awe” (69). For Maggie her scars hold no prejudice, she is even ashamed of them to her own sister, one she hasn’t seen in quite some time. A sister that she has known her entire life but the scars prevent her from building a bond two sisters should share. Similar to…

    • 1130 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Fiction Essay

    • 1009 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Thesis: In both “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard…

    • 1009 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    This study is about the transition from rationalism to romanticism in the English poetry, which reflects the relation between art, literature, and poetry; in addition to the relation between language and literature.…

    • 837 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays