Woman Hollering Creek

In the beginning of Woman Hollering Creek, Cleofilas lives an independent lifestyle. She gets to be whoever she wants and do whatever she wants. She has friends and daily activities. Once she is married she loses herself in the marriage and becomes dependent upon him. She no longer goes to the movies, gets milkshakes, or watches soap operas with her friends. Now she sits at home and serves a husband who makes her feel inferior to him and beats her.
Every night she listens to sound of the creek near her house, waiting for her husband to come home. And while she's waiting she thinks about her life back in Mexico she used to have and of her father's love. A parents love for their child is something that will never go away. She realizes this after she is married. "How when a man and woman love each other, sometimes that love sours. But a parent's love for a child, a child's for its parents, is something entirely. " I think this is what makes her ultimately decide to leave Juan Pedro and go back home to her family. She realizes that she wants her child to feel that love that her parents gave her. Her child will never experience that in a home where abuse occurs. I was happy to see her leave her husband and go back to her family in Mexico. Also, I liked how the story ended because you do not know if she ever makes it back home to them. You just have to hope she does or makes it on her own.

Alice Walker

Everyday Use
"Mama" is never given a name in this short story but everyone else is; both of mama's girls have names, their boyfriends, and other family members. I think Alice Walker used this to make "mamas" character seem ignorant of the rise of education and women leaving homes instead of staying home. Mama never got an education, and can barely read. She seems proud of her daughter, Dee's success but doesn't think it was necessary. "She washed us in a river or make-believe, burned us to her with a lot of knowledge we didn't necessarily need to know. " Even though, she doesn't think Dee needed to go to college to become a successful woman, she supports her by raising money with the church and sending her to Augusta School. Obviously, she loves her daughter very much and encourages her to be successful in her own way.
Dee seems to take advantage of the fact that her mother will give her anything she wants. I think she is appreciative of her mother, I just think she has a hard time being understanding of her mother's background. "Mama" seems to be the only one taking care of her two daughter's because no father is every mentioned.
"I can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man...I can work outside all day, breaking ice to get water for washing;"
She is one strong woman providing for her family. Dee seems to me to want a better life for herself than this but I don't think its because she doesn't appreciate everything her mother gave her necessarily.