Blood is thicker than water.  True, but culture, era, structure, class, all matter when dealing with the complexity of a family’s relationship.  Last week I discussed the importance of Willa Mae Beede’s songs in Getting Mothers Body, and this week I want to understand the importance of Yummy’s letters to her parents in All Over Creation.  This analysis is much more complex than what I thought the purpose of Willa Mae’s songs were because Yummy’s character is more complex in the culture she was raised in, time she was raised, family structure and her family’s economic status.

One of the most prominent features of the novel Getting Mother’s Body by Suzan-Lori Parks is that it is strikingly similar to As I Lay Dying, the famous stream of consciousness novel by William Faulkner. The stories are, in fact, almost identical. It is quite bold to model your debut novel after a so famous and widely critiqued novel, and the reasoning behind such a choice is not quite certain. However, Parks’ modeling of her own story after Faulkner’s serves to highlight the motivation that drives Billy Beede to change her fate, as well as the struggles that the Beede family must endure due to their race.

Jessie Zong

Web Paper 7

Mother-Daughter Complications

In Suzan-Lori Park’s “Getting Mother’s Body,” she explores the complexity of mother-daughter relationships through Billy Beede and her dead mother, Willa Mae. Billy expresses extreme hatred towards her mother, however, as much as Billy is trying to push herself away from her mother’s identity, she is slowly becoming her mother. 

The novel “Getting Mother’s Body”, centers on the story of Billy Beede and the struggles she goes through due to her past and present choices. June, Billy’s aunt, was a very interesting character in Billy’ story.She played a small role in the novel but influenced how other characters were perceived. Her relationship with Billy is overlooked and the impact that she makes on her is not really discussed. June is Billy’s foil and her actions highlight Billy’s key personality traits. 

Before I came to the United States, for me, different races are just an abstract concept, because I lived in an only-Asian-environment for 18 years. I even mixed up Latino and African American sometimes. I have a clearer understanding of the Latino and African American culture after this trip, and I was just impressed by all those plants that I never heard and seen (and tasted) before. They are fascinating, and some of them, delicious.

In Getting Mother’s Body by Suzan Lori-Parks, the relationship between Billy Beede and Willa Mae was dysfunctional. Billy Beede never wanted to be associated with her own mother. After they received a letter from Candy Napoleon about how she had sold some part of her land and that some developers were in the process of building a supermarket in the land where her mother’s grave lay, she threw all her cares into the wind. She said, “Willa Mae getting paved over don’t bother me none.” (44) She was not troubled by her mother’s death either. She told Snipes, “Willa Mae passed and it didn’t bother me none. I was glad to see her go.” (9) She called her by her name, Willa Mae, instead of mother. Albeit Billy Beede didn’t care about her mother, Willa Mae did care about her welfare.

The trip to Norris Square in the North Philly was an impressive one for me. Coming to Bryn Mawr as an international student I found out that what I saw and experienced in Bryn Mawr are not the real lives of other people outside of this bubble after I visited our "poor neighbourhood". There were some impressions about this country that I had just stayed for 2months turns out to be wrong, like domestic students are all wealthy, liberal, open-minded and confident. People are all good speakers and thinkers, but Asians are relatively more shy and timidate.

I truly enjoyed the trip to Norris Square. It was a bit cold but it did not distract me from the beauty of the different gardens that we visited. I loved how each garden had a different theme and I bet they are even more beautiful in the spring and summer. The gardens felt like an oasis in Norris Square. I can definitely see how it can be a place of relaxation and peace in the loud, industrial area. I also loved talking with the tour guides about life in Philadelphia and their aspirations for the future. I found them all to act very adult and mature for their ages. I thought they were seniors in high school but actually two were juniors and one was a sophomore. I really admired how they had plans for the future with what jobs they wanted or what they were looking for in their lives.

I very much enjoyed visiting each garden that we visited on Tuesday. I loved the fact that our tour guides were highschool students and that they were so knowledgable on their culture and were willing to teach those that were not. I also loved how close they were with their community and that they are one with nature and their heritage when planting vegetables and maintaining this garden. I especially loves venturing off into the garden and observing and picking a few of these vegetables because it reminded me of home and the cultural food that my family makes. Being just a couple hours away from home and not being able to literally taste where I come from makes me a bit sad.