Scar, from The Joy Luck Club, presents a sense of very cold family life.
When An-mei has been burned, Popo tells her that if she dies that she would still
owe a great debt to the family and that because she was so young that the funeral
will be small and the mourning period for her would be very brief. She also goes on
to tell her that even her mother has used up all her tears, that she has left and that if
she does not get well that she will forget her. The relationship between An-mei and
her mother is very distant. They do not live together and her grandmother Popo will
not even allow her to speak her name. She is referred to as "ghost", and is talked
down upon constantly by Popo. However when An-mei was burned her mother
showed very much upsetment and reached out to help her. This really showed that
she did love her daughter and did care about her.
In Sula, there is a situation that is just about the same. Sula's grandmother is
approached but her own daughter Hannah, and asked if she had ever loved her
kids. The reason for her asking is because she was brought up in an environment
where her mother wasn't always around and was always so serious with her
children. Eva tells her daughter Hannah that there was no playing in 1895 and that
she would have been dead if she didn't love her. Hannah then proceeds to the yard
to light the yard fire for canning and becomes caught on fire. Eva sees this from the
window and jumps out to try and save her. Even though Hannah died Eva still
made that attempt to save her which put her own life at risk. This really shows how
she did love her very much and did care for her even though Hannah did not always
The authors, Morrison and Tan are showing in both stories that these
mothers really do love their children and do care. Also both these stories show
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