Task: Write a 3-paragraph blog post in which you argue for against the following statement:
"It was the mother's responsibility to intervene in her daughter's life as she did."
In your post, you should express your personal point of view, and provide strong arguments to support it. Include specific references from the story.
A mother-daughter relationship is one that requires a lot of love, care, and the ability to understand one another. In the short story "Wilhelm" by Gabrielle Roy, the mother of the main character felt that it was responsible of her to intervene in her daughter's life as she did. A mother should not always interfere in her daughter's life. A mother interfering in her daugher's life could create tension between the two individuals, result in a bad relationship between mother and daughter, or erupt a feeling of misery within the daughter.
For instance, a tension between any two individuals is disturbing. Even being in the presence of such an individual would probably trouble your feelings. The main character's mother in the short story "Wilhelm" did not understand the main character, her daughter. The first time her daughter brought up the subject of Wilhelm, and how he had sent her a box of chocolates from Holland, and walked her home, that was the beginning of a sort of tension that came between the two individuals: "Alas! The moment his back was turned, Maman asked me about my young man. 'Who is that great beanstalk?'" Referring to someone as a beanstalk gives a negative connotation, and from there, the rough relationship between mother and daughter had begun. A mother-daughter relationship should be open, and free of hurtful comments or demanding speech. When this sort of thing happened to the main character, she seemed to feel uncomfortable speaking to her mother, and being open with her. Her mother had said, "If he takes the same sidewalk as you, mind you cross right over to the other". Yes, the main character couldn't prevent Wilhelm from walking beside her but it also seemed like she just wanted him to be walking her home. She didn't mind, but her mother did. Because of this, the mother-daughter relationship grew very distant, and it appeared that the main character felt miserable for she couldn't go against her mother's words. If you felt comfortable talking about your feelings with your mother, wouldn't you feel upset and bothered if your mother couldn't understand how you felt? I'm sure most of us would feel that way. Well, so did the main character: "Maman was turned into something like a spy, busy with poking about in my wastebasket; and then i thought that she was certainly the last person in the world to understand me!" By the looks of it, it seems as though she feels frustrated at the fact that she wanted her mother to understand her, but her mother didn't. Her mother tried to keep them apart, by making sure that Wilhelm didn't walk home with her daughter, making sure that the letters were not to be sent anymore, and also by forbidding her to see Wilhelm. The main character had to go through some tough obstacles that had to do with love, and her mother. Misery and frustration had swept inside of her because of her mother's prejudice against the "Hollander", but there was nothing more she could do to tell her mother how she felt because her mother was being adament about the subject.
So should a mother always interfere into her daughter's life? Well through the tension, the result of a distant relationship, and the frustration of the daughter, my personal point of view of this situation is that a mother shouldn't always interfere in her daughter's life. There are times when a mother should tell her daughter to do the right thing if her daughter is following the wrong path, but to interfere with her daughter's love is something that shouldn't be what a mother does. A mother could advise her daughter on the type of man her mother thinks she should be with, but should never demand her daughter to not see the man, or to stop talking to the man through any means of communication. That would result in the daughter to do things without her mother knowing, and to feel that she cannot be open with her mother, just like how the main character in "Wilhelm" had felt. Therefore, the mother intervening in her daughter's life as she did led to several bad outcomes, instead of good morals and content feelings.
By Rummya Yohaseharan
Hey Rummya =)
ReplyDeleteThis is a very well written response and you have made very strong points that I totally agree on. I strongly agree on the part were you have stated that a mother daughter relationship should be open and a daughter should be able to feel comfortable sharing her secrets and deep thoughts with her mother. In my opinion a daughter would have a stronger relationship with her mother rather than her father and if the mother is not willing to understand how her daughter feels that will just create more tension in the family and further weakening a mother-daughter relationship. In my opinion i also think that if a mother-daughter relationship is weak from the start it will also affect their relationship in the future creating more problems between the two. I like the part when you stated that a mother should state her opinion too but she should not try to enforce her opinion on her daughter because that does create alot of problems between the two. If the mother feels that the daughter is doing something wrong she should try to talk to her daughter instead of creating problems. Overall, this is very well written! =)
i disagree becauMost women are inherently excellent mothers. Women carry their young before they are born and then continue to nurture them throughout their childhood and even into adulthood. Mothers make sure that their children are safe and happy throughout their childhood. It is the unconditional love that a mother feels that drives these feelings. It is hard to describe the feeling that a mother has towards her children. In fact, most people do not understand unless they become a mother themselves. Raising children comes with its own share of frustrations, from the needy new born baby that requires regular care to the sullen teenager, a mother's job is anything but easy. A famous saying states that "God could not be everywhere and so he invented mothers", these words are a great inspiration to mothers across the world. When all is well, a mother puts her children before anything else, including their own comfort and happiness.
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