All human beings spend the first nine months of their lives in their mother's womb. From the moment of birth, we struggle with the notion of "mother": we love this woman and feel an intense bond with her, yet we inevitably need to separate from her. At some point we all have to cut the proverbial umbilical cord, and this is often an extremely painful process for both ourselves and our mothers. In Tar Baby, Lucy and Brown Girl, Brownstones, Toni Morrison, Jamaica Kincaid and Paule Marshall address the issue of the "maternal issue", the human need to free oneself from the maternal bond and create a set of values, expectations and desires. for themselves independent of the maternal. Jadine, Lucy, and Selina go through very different processes in these novels, but what unites them is their struggle for freedom and to establish themselves beyond their mother's purview. In this sense, then, these are all coming-of-age novels, as they chart the progress of three black women trying to carve out a space for themselves in the world. In the following pages I will discuss how each of these protagonists negotiates this powerful "maternal issue", their rebellions against it, and the effectiveness of their respective strategies. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Jadine Childs' mother died when she was twelve, but this does not exempt her from maternal issues, as Jadine is obsessed with images of the maternal. This is established from the beginning of the book, when Morrison tells us of the "mother/sister/she" Jadine meets in a Paris supermarket, "with eyes whose force had burned off their eyelashes." (Tar Baby p. 46) This woman in yellow is the supreme representation of femininity and motherhood, with "too many hips, too much bust" and symbolic eggs in her hand. Jadine is made very uncomfortable by this woman, yet she also falls in love with her; this tension defines his attitude towards the maternal. Later, we learn that Ondine and Sydney, her uncles who had become "her people" since her mother's death, "mattered a lot to her, but what they thought did not." (p. 49) Jadine has clearly distanced herself from "her people" and the concept of motherhood, and this alienation will come back to haunt her, literally, as the book progresses. For Jadine, as for many people, the concept of the maternal often manifests itself in forms other than that of the mother herself, such as tradition, history, the notion of home and the feeling of responsibility towards others. Jadine rejects all this and, in doing so, rejects the idea of ​​motherhood and family. His stated appreciation for Picasso over Itumba masks and "Ave Maria" over gospel music are examples of his renunciation of his cultural roots. And in Eloe, an all-black city, Jadine feels deeply alienated from Son's friends and relatives; he is unable to relate to members of his own race. As Therese observes, Jadine "has forgotten her ancient possessions." (p. 305) She is uncomfortable with her heritage as a black woman and feels alienated from her mother's culture and her mother's mothers; this is therefore a way of rejecting the maternal. Jadine's relationships with the people in her life are also indicative of this struggle with the concept of the maternal. Although Jadine is affectionate towards Sydney and "Nanadine", her sort of surrogate mother, she is not very respectful or caring; his decision to leave L'Arbe de la Croix with Son without informing them illustrates his position towards his family. Jadine doesn't appreciate the hardships Sydney and Ondine went through to support her, and her constant reminders to Son that Valerian"sent her to school" make it clear that she credits Valerian for her education and opportunities, not her aunt and uncle. Jadine's refusal of any responsibility towards "her people" is in itself a form of rebellion against motherhood. Jadine's relationship with her Son is another way in which she addresses ideas of motherhood. Morrison writes that Son "completely orphaned her" Son became a home for her and "gave her a brand new childhood" (p. 229). Yet Son also confronts her with her failures and weaknesses; at one point in the novel, he tells her "you know nothing, nothing about your children, and nothing about your mother." (p. 265) Jadine cannot accept being so vulnerable to someone, to compromise for him or to be held accountable to him, and ultimately leaves Son; this is part of his rejection of the maternal. In Eloe, Jadine faces Son's house and ultimately rejects that too. Jadine has never had a home and is disturbed when she is called "daughter" by an older woman. This discomfort manifests itself in the form of maternal ghosts, which haunt her at night. These women, including her mother and the supermarket "mother/sister/her", expose their breasts and eggs to her, taunting Jadine with their mothering prowess. She exclaims, "I have breasts too," but they don't believe her, and neither does the reader. These women represent the maternal strength that constantly haunts Jadine and that she herself will never be able to possess. Interestingly, in this scene we learn that Jadine normally dreams of hats; this is significant because of her tearful revelation to Son early in the novel regarding the "horrible hat" she had worn to her mother's funeral. Thus, while Jadine is constantly absorbed by the maternal problem, it is only in Eloe that it rises to the level of consciousness. But Jadine is not yet aware of the meaning of these maternal ghosts, because she thinks to herself: "what did they have in common, besides breasts?". She fails to recognize the tension within herself regarding the issue of motherhood. Jadine flees from Eloe, and in doing so flees from her mother's apparitions, as well as from the idea of ​​home. In the end, she too runs away from Son and the vulnerability she allowed herself to reveal to him. Jadine is completely incapable of giving herself to anyone, and this is what Ondine is referring to when she tells her granddaughter, "A girl must be a daughter first. She must learn that. And if she never learns to be a daughter, she can never learn to be a woman." (p. 281) Jadine disrespects her aunt and uncle, leaves her son, and runs away from the United States, all because she cannot deal with the issue of motherhood. The line between dependence and independence is very thin, especially between parents and children, and this is the line that daughters must walk. Jadine is too afraid to walk this line, and this fear ensures that she will be perpetually alone. Lucy, from Jamaica Kincaid's novel of the same name, faces many of the same issues as Jadine. She also constantly runs away from her mother Annie and rebels against everything her mother stands for. Annie is a constant presence in Lucy's life, despite the great distance between them, and there is hardly a chapter in the novel in which Lucy's mother is not mentioned. Lucy is aware that she is being haunted by her family; he calls them "the millstone around the neck of your life" and wonders "if there would ever be a day when these people I left behind, my own family, would not appear before me one way or another." other". (Lucy p. 8) Yet, like Jadine, Lucy's attempt to escape from the maternal is ineffective, because Annie continues to dominate her life. The first mention of Lucy's mother is associated with her letter to Lucy about the danger of the subway; even from thousands of kilometers awaydistance, Annie is able to incite fear in her daughter's heart and thus control her. Lucy's relationship with her mother is very complex; he has very ambivalent feelings towards her. He is cruel to her, but he also loves her deeply; he hates her and admires her at the same time. Although Lucia constantly discusses her anger at her mother and Annie's inadequacy and failure as a mother, she also enriches the novel with tender stories of their interactions. Lucy describes her mother's large hands and her love of plants; she tells us about Annie's lessons to Lucy about sex, men, and abortion, and about sitting on Annie's lap as a child and caressing her face. Lucy also proudly shares stories of her mother's life and her various triumphs. Despite Lucy's anger towards her mother, she still feels a deep connection to her and identifies with her in many ways. However, for Lucy, what seems most powerful is her fury. She is angry at her mother for numerous reasons: her devotion to an unworthy husband, her failure to encourage Lucy as much as she encouraged Lucy's brothers, and the fact that "my mother would never come to understand that perhaps my needs they were more important than my needs." her desires." (p. 64) Lucy then runs away from her home and becomes an au pair, confirming her past statement that "when I am nineteen I will only live at home if I die." (p. 112) Yet this what Lucy chooses instead is to live and work in someone else's home, and this creates interesting conflicts for her. Lucy's relationship with Mariah, her employer, parallels this mother/daughter dynamic, and Lucy states that "Mariah. era like a mother to me." (p. 110) Interestingly, Lucy writes, "the times I loved Mariah were because she reminded me of my mother. The times I didn't love Mariah it was because she reminded me of my mother." (p. 58) He is therefore as ambivalent towards Mariah as he is towards his mother. And just as Lucy runs away from her mother, at the end of novel also runs away from Mariah. Lucy's rejection of her mother extends beyond her physical position; she rebels against her mother in other ways, such as refusing to open her mother's letters and not returning home when she learns of the death of his father. And yet this rebellion brings Lucy no fulfillment, for, like Jadine, in rejecting her mother so adamantly, she also rejects herself Even as a child, Lucy tells us that she was "a direct imitation" of her mother, and to a certain extent point in the novel says that she was her mother. Hating her mother is therefore a form of self-loathing. And although Lucy seems to hate her mother, she also longs for her, and sadly remembers being "at the age when I could still touch my own. mother with ease" (p. 61) and the time "when he loved me without reserve". ." (p. 155) Of his time with Mariah, he says "hers was the kind of time I would have liked to spend with my mother, but, for a reason I'm not clear about, I wasn't allowed to." (p. 60) Lucy is completely dominated by her mother's thoughts; her attempt to reject the maternal dimension has therefore backfired. Lucy's biggest problem is the extremity of her thoughts and actions; successfully the maternal problem because hers reactions are too severe. She states that in her past "I was my mother" (p. 90) while today "I am not like my mother. She and I are not the same" (p. 123). Lucy puts everything in black and white; instead of recognizing the complexity of her relationship with her mother, she strictly categorizes it. This leaves no room for giving and having a successful daughter. Unlike Jadine, however, Lucy does not reject her heritage and in that sense is at peace with who she is. She describes her mother as "god-like" and "somethingtaken from an ancient book" (p. 151), this creates a striking parallel with Jadine's "ancient properties". Even though Lucy struggles with her mother on a daily basis, she embraces her culture and this gives her a certain satisfaction. The remorse and Lucy's shame is about her actions rather than her identity, and this is an important distinction. There is therefore more hope for Lucy than for Jadine, because although she may have behaved badly, she has not broken ties with her. Indeed, in a letter to Lucy Annie writes "that she would always love me, she would always be my mother, my home would never be anywhere but with her (p. 128) Lucy can object to this - she burns this letter - but she cannot deny it. Lucy leaves the novel crying in shame at her desire to "love someone so much that she dies" (p. 164) Lucy loves someone so much, but she threw that love away because she couldn't. to adequately create a space for itself within it. When her mother tells her "You can run away, but you can't run away from the fact that I'm your mother, my blood runs in you, I've carried you inside me for nine months," (p. 90). Lucy interprets this as a prison sentence. Yet this is a prison sentence that all human beings face, and the way Lucy deals with the situation leaves her empty and ashamed at the end of the novel, in fact, she states: "Now I was living the life I had always wanted to live . I was living apart from my family... The feeling of bliss, the feeling of happiness, the feeling of fulfilled desire that I thought would come with this situation was nowhere to be found within me." (p. 158) In contrast, at the end of Brown Girl, Brownstones, Selina Boyce is a mature, confident woman with high hopes, who has accepted her lifelong bond with her mother without allowing it to dominate her life. For this reason, Selina is the most successful three characters who face the complex maternal problem. As Selina violently struggles with her mother, she manages to emerge from this "war" as a whole person, with happiness and fulfillment almost visible on the horizon. Like Annie, Silla is a powerful woman who inspires awe in her daughter, and like Lucy, Selina hates and adores her mother, aspires to be like her in some ways, and despises her in other ways: she is Deighton's Selina or Selina of Silla? Throughout the first part of the novel, she strives to be Deighton's Selina. But later in her life, after struggling with these issues for years, she is able to admit her connection to her mother and tells Silla "I am really your daughter." In fact, her name, Selina, comes from the name "Silla", and this is no coincidence. While Selina resembles Deighton in some ways, for the most part she is Silla's Selina: she is confident, rebellious, articulate, and determined, and refuses to capitulate to anyone or anything. She is also hardworking, passionate and strong – these are qualities she inherited mostly from her mother and qualities she embraces within herself. Silla imposes her value system on Selina and tries to make her daughter a faithful replica of herself. And Selina, like Lucy and Jadine, rebels against this. His behavior with the Association is an important component of this rebellion Silla's desire to make money and "buy a house"; her values ​​are simply different and she refuses to compromise. Part of Selina's success in overcoming this conflict is her openness to her mother. When Silla hits Selina, Selina hits back; When Silla has Deighton deported, Selina calls her "Hitler" and beats her violently. This is not a secret battle; it is brought out into the open and this makes things easier for both parties. Another factor that contributes to Selina's success is the fact that she doesn't run away from her parents.