The scarf
"The Scarf" is an American short story written by Joyce Carol Oates that appeared in Faithless, 2003. In the followings I will try to focus on the analyses of the boundless love between mother and daughter theme; the relationship between whites and blacks; the sacrifice for the ones you love; the scarf, which is a symbol of infinitely love and the significance of the word "lost".The love between mother and daughter is surely an eternal and boundless love. To show this to her mother, the eleven years old girl, "saved jealously, in secret, for many months in a white sock" eight dollars and sixty-five cents for a birthday present. This was all her saving and she will spend them till the last penny for the present that says, " I love you, you are life to me." After my opinion, the girl did not think at the present as a material thing. She din not want to spend all the money just to buy a luxurious present, "a mere store-bought". She wanted something that would express her feelings to her mother, something that would signify the unbounded love she had for her mommy. This love makes the daughter give all she has just to see her mother happy. " I could see the surprised pleasure in my mother's eyes as she unwrapped
Thought, a poor colored girl could not do anything else but steal from such an expensive shop. " This shows how signs of superstitious behaviour can still be found in a modern and democratic world. This is mainly a reference to whites acceptance of blacks, which can still be a problem. Years later, the mother will give her daughter everything that was once precious, not to be lost. Those words, which are dedicated to the young people, are coming from one of the leaders of Silver Ring Thing, an American organisation, whose message is sexual abstinence before marriage. In reward, when offering something, you get the satisfaction of the beloved person's smile. The ending shows that even the mother is old and cannot remember so well that she received the scarf from her daughter, she knew that the scarf was a precious thing, a thing that meant a lot to her and which should now belong to her daughter. The all times favourite student, such a diligent and good girl was now looked as a misdemeanant. A reason can be that every single time this person will see the gift he will think about the one he received the present from. Nothing of this is new, but it is remarkable that the government supports the organisation. This leaded to the fact that in many schools the sexual teaching was replaced with teaching about why you should not have sex. Of course everybody is expecting to receive presents in Christmas, but if you really care for somebody, then every day should be a special day. People are reducing the symbol of love to money and think that love, sympathy and respect can be bought with some little presents.
Common topics in this essay:
Carol Oates,
Ring American,
Scarf American,
mother daughter,
eight dollars,
love mother,
love mother daughter,
eight dollars sixty-five,
dollars sixty-five cents,
boundless love mother,
dollars sixty-five,
silver ring,
boundless love,
price scarf,
sixty-five cents,
word lost,
sexual abstinence,
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Acceptance Essays
