Mother Daughter Relationships
One of the most basic and most insightful bonds women form with each other is that of a mother and daughter (Nadeau). It is a bond that should not be taken for granted, and it is a relationship built on trust and love. The two books White Oleander and Unless each have the central theme of self-discovery. White Oleander is a story about a girl named Astrid who is forced into foster care following the imprisonment of her mother. Each foster home has its own life, its own laws, its own dangers, and each includes hard lessons to be learned. This novel centers on the path of self-discovery in which Astrid is forced to embark. Unless is a narrative about a mother named Reta whose daughter Norah inexplicably leaves college to beg on a street corner. This novel centers on Reta who must discover why her daughter has made these choices. Norah is also on a path of self-discovery. Both of these novels entail young women struggling to find themselves, both novels contain a mother daughter relationship that is delicate and separated, but the main difference remains the fact that Astrid from White Oleander was forced from her mother, therefore it is from her perspective, while Norah from Unless had the choice to leave, therefore it is f
She was on the right path and had everything a girl could ask for, yet somehow that was not the life she had anticipated. Norah shocked her entire family by mysteriously choosing to leave. Her path is completely laid out by herself. Also, Norah is able to reunite with her mother and family so that together they can overcome the trauma that she experienced alone. Norah's mother Reta reflects: "I didn't think about our girls growing older and leaving home and falling away from us" (Shields 11). When it comes to their mothers these girls have a completely different way of dealing with their situations. On the other hand, in Unless Reta, Norah's mother, must contemplate why Norah dropped out of college to beg on a street corner. Both the young women from the novels are determined, independent, and unforgettable. Astrid tries and wants to keep in contact with her mother. Little did she know at the time that this fear would become a reality. He loved you the way a boy loves a pet turtle, or a road race set" (Fitch 444). Norah's experience changed her life as well as the life of her family. Reta considers: "Now, at nineteen, she's so brimming with goodness that she sits on a Toronto street corner, which has its own textual archaeology, though Norah probably doesn't know about that" (Shields 11). It is said that the best novelists do not resolve anything, but that they force the reader to sit with inconsistencies (Gunning).
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