Lesson24+25 Oh Mary, don't you cry anymore

Nedenfor finder I et uddrag af en kursist-besvarelse.
Meningen er at den skal kunne hjælpe jer med jeres arbejde til mdtl. eksamen, hvis I nu skulle være så heldig at trække en tekst med det pågældende tema.


Link to Wikipedia about the aboriginal Tasmanians:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aboriginal_Tasmanian

Oh Mary Don't You Cry Any More

Fay Weldon

 

Part 1

1.      Where does the story take place? When does it take place?

The story takes place in Hobart, Tasmania, in a community of what seems to be of very liberal people; the narrator tells us that there were 140 women in the “camp” and only 100 men.

I am imagining that this story could very well take place somewhere in the 80’s, we have not been given any leads to a specific year, but the narrator draws a pretty solid picture of the environment, with “the community” and the fact that their mother appears to be an extraordinary spiritual and liberated woman. Shirley also tells us about her youth, where they all were hippies as she phrases it.

2.      Characterize the three main characters: Shirley, Gracey, and Lisa. What is their social background? Their living situation, appearances, clothes and so on?

As mentioned Shirley, the mother seems to be a very liberated person; she presumably looks at everything that happens with a positive perspective.

Gracey is the younger of the two daughters, according to her mother she looks at the world with a fearless scope, she is also a beautiful girl who goes to dancing lessons once a week, which makes her very limber as her mother mentions. Lisa is the older of the two and she is very committed to doing her homework.

3.      What reasons does Shirley give for letting the girls walk barefoot and wear the clothes they do? How does Gracey feel about that?

None of the girls wear shoes not from poverty, but because their mother wants them to live like aborigines. The daughters do not appreciate this; they would rather live like normal children.

4.      What is your impression of the relationship between Shirley and her daughters until page 73?

I think they have a good relationship, the narrator mentions that Shirley knows how to make them laugh. But you somehow get the feeling that the two girls are a bit “fed up” with the way their mother lives her life, a bit too “liberated” perhaps?

5.      What type of mother is Shirley?

She seems to be a loving caring mother, who loves her children very much; she certainly talks about them as they are the best things that have ever happened to her. But again, as said before she is very liberal and hippie-like, she tells the girls that she does not want them to be all conservative and closed up about the topic sex. Life is love as she says. 

6.      Where is Gracey and Lisa’s father? What impression do you get of him?

Their father have started a new life in Melbourne, he has a new wife and a newborn son. The father has sort of abandoned the two girls, they don’t see him anymore, but he did however at first send them money every two weeks, but this became a more and more sporadic event.

By the sound of it, it seemed to me that Shirley’s husband could not handle her liberal personality anymore.

Part 2.

1.      What values has Shirley tried to install in her daughters? Has she succeeded in doing so?

She says that she has raised them to look after themselves, to be self-reliant and to know that there is always a solution to a problem whatever the scale. She tells her acquaintance “If you want something, you must go out and get it.” I think she has embraced the whole concept a bit too naïve, she thinks that she can get away with being a “slacker” even though her children need care. And by that I don’t mean that she does not care for her kids, but she has to realize that she has a certain obligation to her kids, such as putting food on the table, and providing shoes.

2.      How do other people look upon Shirley and her daughters?

With pity. Especially the people at the Hobart Market, Shirley’s “friend” Stella really want a better life for Shirley’s daughters as we hear in the conversation they are having in the middle of page 75.

3.      Describe the incident at Hobart Market. Does this change Shirley’s outlook on life? Or Gracey’s?

Shirley remains positive, and try to encourage her children, so seemingly it has not changed her perspective on things, but somehow I think she is too naïve (or just too determined) to believe anything but the fact that everything will be all right.

4.      Having read the last part of the story, how would you now describe the relationship between Shirley and her daughters? How do Shirley and her daughters differ in their way of looking at their situation?

Shirley is as mentioned above too determined to look at their situation with a realistic perspective, her daughters however, know that their situation is very negative, and they seem embarrassed on their mother’s behalf. Their relationship is difficult, because on one hand they love their mother, but on the other hand they know their life has to change rapidly if they should avoid ending up like her.

5.      How do Gracey and Lisa feel about growing up?

They want to live like other children, Gracey want to join a show, but are limited by the fact that the family cannot afford to buy shoes. It seems that the girls do whatever they can not to end up like their mother, Lisa studies hard.

6.      What are the themes and what is the aim of the short story by Fay Weldon?

I think Fay Weldon is trying to tell us that it is important to have good intentions like Shirley has, but you have to avoid being naïve and think that everything is going to be alright. It is good to be idealistic, but sometimes you have to compromise your idealism.

7.      How does the short story conform to the overall theme of growing up?

It shows us how no children should be forced to grow up under these circumstances, and maybe it is more likely Gracey and Lisa’s mom Shirley who is the one who needs to grow up.

Extra questions.

3. What did Gracey feel about the reasons her mother gave?

She has no use for her mother’s reasons, as she does not see herself as one of the aborigines, she should not be forced to live like them. She just wants to be a normal kid.

6.      Describe the way the father treated his two daughters.

He did not treat them very well, he neglected them to say the least, and actually abandoned them totally when he established a new family.

8. What happened to Shirley one night when she got drunk?

She spends the night with another woman’s man on the beach, which did not cause as much drama as it normally would, because everyone pitied Shirley.