I think Lily’s relationship with Rosaleen is interesting and hard to define. At first, it seems like Rosaleen is Lily’s surrogate mother. “I used to have daydreams in which she was white and married T. Ray, and became my real mother. Other times I was a negro orphan she sound in a cornfield and adopted. Once in a while I had us living in a foreign country like New York, where she could adopt me and we could both stay our natural color” (12).
And then sometimes, when Rosaleen doesn’t understand her or is too callous about something Lily thinks is important, Lily finds her trying. “Sometimes I purely hated her” (10).
I think that Rosaleen acted as more of an aunt or an older sister than a mother to Lily. And when Lily starts to get close to August, Rosaleen is jealous, thinking she has been replaced in a way. But you can see that Lily still loves her when they aren’t roommates any more, or when Lily came up behind her and said “I love you.”
I wonder if Rosaleen was ever reluctant to develop a strong tie with Lily because of what other people would think. Was she even allowed to have a strong bond wiht a white child in the 1960s? I mean, this was still a time where blacks were looked down upon and distrusted because of their skin color. I wonder if whites would look at her quesitoningly if they knew she valued Lily as a daughter figure. I think this could be why sometimes she was so callous with her, because she was afraid of what could happen to either of them if someone found a problem with it.
I agree with Emily that Rosaleen loved Lily very much like a daughter, but she was afraid to show it at times, especially around other people, because of what people would think. It's sad that their relationship could never be fully realized the way that both of them wanted because of the different colors of their skin. It's like Lily's relationship with Zach; because of their skin colors, they could probably never be together in a lasting relationship. There would be too much prejudice directed toward them. Sad.
I think Lily’s relationship with Rosaleen is interesting and hard to define. At first, it seems like Rosaleen is Lily’s surrogate mother. “I used to have daydreams in which she was white and married T. Ray, and became my real mother. Other times I was a negro orphan she sound in a cornfield and adopted. Once in a while I had us living in a foreign country like New York, where she could adopt me and we could both stay our natural color” (12).
ReplyDeleteAnd then sometimes, when Rosaleen doesn’t understand her or is too callous about something Lily thinks is important, Lily finds her trying. “Sometimes I purely hated her” (10).
I think that Rosaleen acted as more of an aunt or an older sister than a mother to Lily. And when Lily starts to get close to August, Rosaleen is jealous, thinking she has been replaced in a way. But you can see that Lily still loves her when they aren’t roommates any more, or when Lily came up behind her and said “I love you.”
I wonder if Rosaleen was ever reluctant to develop a strong tie with Lily because of what other people would think. Was she even allowed to have a strong bond wiht a white child in the 1960s? I mean, this was still a time where blacks were looked down upon and distrusted because of their skin color. I wonder if whites would look at her quesitoningly if they knew she valued Lily as a daughter figure. I think this could be why sometimes she was so callous with her, because she was afraid of what could happen to either of them if someone found a problem with it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Emily that Rosaleen loved Lily very much like a daughter, but she was afraid to show it at times, especially around other people, because of what people would think. It's sad that their relationship could never be fully realized the way that both of them wanted because of the different colors of their skin. It's like Lily's relationship with Zach; because of their skin colors, they could probably never be together in a lasting relationship. There would be too much prejudice directed toward them. Sad.
ReplyDelete