[her] head" (272). If a woman were emotionally strong, she would not tolerate comments like that. Any woman who does not possess the courage to leave a man after being humiliated like Alma is stuck in a male- dominated society and lacks the ability to find her own identity.
             In addition, Alma's identity also lies within her children. It is perfectly natural for a mother to love her children with all her heart. It is also perfectly natural for a mother to severely grieve over the death of her child. However, Alma takes this too far. She goes crazy after losing Annie, her youngest child. Alma wrecks her home, frightens the children, and even threatens to cut her husband's throat with a razor. She longs to have another baby, because that would be the only thing that would make her feel pretty. If having a child is the only thing that would make a woman feel good about herself, what kind of identity is that? Alma clearly shows that she cannot live on her own- she needs a man and children to help her survive.
             Although Anney makes some advances towards independence, she remains stuck to a patriarchal reality, having her identity shaped by a man. Anney was "fourteen and terrified, fifteen and a mother, just past twenty-one when she married Glen" (309). How can Anney have had the chance to develop
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