Double Vision

“I am a child. Then I am pregnant.  My mother says, Go away from me.  The fragility of her love, the violent moment of tension let loose. The perfect girl with the perfect mother in the perfect family, exploding in a flash” (129).

I feel like parents will always see their children as they were when they were younger. It doesn't matter what age they are, some mothers will always see their daughters as their "little girls" but I think in this case Meredith's mother can't. I don't really understand if Meredith's mother thinks what happened to her daughter is her fault? I feel like maybe deep down she did blame herself for her daughters 'mistake'. Disclaimer I do not think this is a good thing to think, but maybe she thinks that because her daughter had sex she is tainted, or maybe not innocent. Whatever love she had for her daughter wasn't the same, it wasn't fully there if that makes any sense.

Again

“I love my father, but he is a weak man”

I haven't spoken much about Meredith's father, but I agree with her when she says that he is a weak man. I think from when her parents got divorced he started to act cold. He would make them go to his parents house for holidays as a family, pretending they are still together. He didn't want to tell them, but I feel like he was just being cowardly. Then the way he reacted when he told his children and ex wife that he was going to get married. He reacted like a kid would if they weren't getting attention. Complaining about how they can't just be happy for him, and that this isn't what he needed today. He just seems sleazy in my eyes, he is a jerk. Especially when Meredith tells him that she is pregnant. He treats her with no respect and when she moves to go to college then drops out he calls her out and says that she is a quitter. I don't really know if that is his actual view on her, because his new wife seems to be pretty controlling. She even tells Meredith to stop calling him, and that he doesn't want to talk to her anymore. Her father doesn't really seem like a real dad, he just seems like someone who is distant.

The Uprising

“The conversation with my old life never ends”

Meredith's new life in Cambridge doesn't seem as lonely as it did when she was in Hampton. But she still is alone and by herself (hopefully that makes sense). Although she has a boyfriend he is never really around, he's just a roommate. Erick comes and goes as he pleases, they don't speak often, they don't get to know each other. He just leaves her alone with her thoughts, she is always thinking about the past. Meredith is always thinking about her baby, and how old he is now. I don't really understand why Meredith is still with Erick, he doesn't seem like a good person for her to be around. I wish that she and Marni had stayed in contact, she would not have felt so alone if she at least had one friend while living in Cambridge. They also went through something similar. I feel like Meredith just needs to vent to someone, but she has not found the right person to tell her story to.

Bad Mother

“’Do you know what this town is saying about me?’ my mother answers from above. ‘They say that my daughter is common, a slut’”

Meredith's mother is the worst mother ever, the worst mother award goes to her. While she was working sound Hampton beach during the summer she brought her daughter along with her. The mother is now with this man Peter, she is not paying attention to her children as much as she should. She broke down whatever structure they had when Meredith's parents were still together. Her mother had expectations and old rules she expected her to follow. Meredith before her pregnancy was frightened because her mother was not enforcing these rules. She was living this new life with her mother and she seemed uncomfortable about it. Meredith even mentions how she is caught between her old safe life at home and the new life which her mother is creating. Meredith had small cries for help bottled up, after her mother found out she was pregnant she just treated her so coldly. Not thinking about what her daughter must be going through, only how people in the community see her. All Meredith wanted was for someone to be there for her and support her, she just needed someone to open their arms up and hug her. Not treat her like some sort of outsider. Meredith's mother could not even comfort her own child when she was in distress.

Shunned

“Shunning is supposed to keep bad things from happening in a community.  But it doesn’t correct the life gone wrong.  It can only expose the transgression to a very raw light, use it as a measure, a warn to others…” (xi-xii).

I feel like I do understand what Hall is trying to say in this quote, they are shunning her to prove a point to other people in the community. Things travel around fast when you live in a small town, people were going to find out what Meredith has done. The people take it as a prime opportunity to use this as a lesson for the other children in the town. I keep on thinking of the Scarlet Letter when I read this quote, Hester and Meredith are in the same situation. But, Meredith is younger and she has to abandon her child due to the pressure of her family and the town that she lives in.

Home is where your heart is

"...She burst into tears and desperately wrapped her arms around him. Henry held her and told her would like nothing better than to take her with him, but...he couldn't." (128)

        Alright, so the picture I tried to draw was of Nani and Lilo from Lilo and Stich. It's from the scene when they are on the hammock and both girls are talking about family. About how Lilo misses her mom and dad, and Nani tells her that they are their own family now. They sing a song then let the flowers blow away in the wind (the flowers symbolize their parents who passed away). This reminds me of Henry and Rachel's relationship. Henry is a good man, he is Rachel's rock it seems like. He loves her even though she has this illness that causes all of society to shun you, he is a very understanding father. It is heart breaking when he finds out that she is being shipped away, that's his baby. Although I want to say the same for Rachel's mother I feel as if I cant't, she could not handle being an outcast. As for Henry it didn't matter to him, he just wanted to hug his little girl. He was thinking about her and not his reputation, I'm sure what Dorthy did had good intentions behind it but she made her daughter believe that she was abandoned. Henry never made her feel that way, to Rachel her father is hope. Him coming to visit her makes her feel so good, she has been there for two years with no visitors from her family. What I'm really trying to get at is, those big hands and small hands holding on to the flowers is basically a symbol of togetherness and hope for Rachel. No matter how far away Henry is his heart is always with his little girl, he will always find his way back to her. 

Joy Luck Club

I really enjoyed this movie, I personally love mother daughter movies. They are really underrated, each mother's back story was heartbreaking. I feel like I didn't really like Lindo and Waverly's stories as much as I liked everyone else. They really did remind me of my aunt and cousins, their relationship is purely based on the daughters achievements.My aunt just wants to brag about her daughters, what they do in school or whatever award they get in school. It's kind of frustrating to see someone do that. Mother's cannot live through their daughters. What I did notice, was that all these mother daughter relationships are all kind of common now. What I am trying to say is that all mothers are either competitive with their child, kind and loving, maybe detached from them. When Ying-ying talking about passing her sadness onto Lena that broke my heart. But she was still looking out for her daughter, she was doing her best to point her in the right direction. I actually really loved that part, because even though Lena was telling her mother she was happy Ying-ying knew. She knew that her daughter was unhappy, the balance in that home was unlucky. I was really happy with each story, they were full of emotion, and relatable moments. Every mothers wish is to give their daughter the things they never had, it reminds me of my mom. She is always trying to motivate me, and reassure me with my decisions. Mom seems to know everything, she is the only person who knows your feelings better than you do. I know that is not the case for many mother daughter relationships, but that's how I feel like I wish it was for everyone. One thing I did not like in this movie was when Lindo didn't tell June what the letter said and that her sisters didn't know that their mother had passed. Or when the older women would speak and June didn't understand. That was a bit unfair that they had that ability to talk about things in front of her without understanding. I think the best moment was the end when June gets to China and meets her older sisters. And tells them that she was there to bring them their mother's hopes. That was a big thing for me, because my own mother is always talking about how she wants her children to carry her hopes and dreams. All her hopes and dreams are about wanting her children to be successful and most of all to be genuinely happy about their lives and the decisions they make.