Mama Day

A detailed Summary of Mama Day

The entire structure of Mama Day is fitting to the telling of multiple love stories entertwined. Like the most heartfelt episode of Seinfeld ever Gloria Naylor doesn't tell a love story, but rather lays out in detail the events of everyday life for all of the central characters. In the process the love stories of the characters are all told at once. The most obvious example is the relationship between George and Cocoa (arguably the main love story). Through the book we see them meet, fall in love, and go through excitement and hardship; all that love is. There is also the love story of Mama Day, Abigail, and Cocoa. Even though Abigail is Cocoa's grandmother and Mama Day is her great-aunt, they both take on the role of mother through their mutual love for her. There is also the love story between Bernice, Ambush and Little Caesar. Despite their squabbles, they love each other. Love is one of the major themes in this book.

Gloria Naylor steps aside and lets the characters do her work for her. Love has the unfortunate nature of being objective and the best way to tell love stories is from every point of view. How else can one understand from the outside? On page one she starts with Cocoa telling her side of things and on t

Deep and rich is the characterization for everyone, doesn't matter how insignificant the character may seem. Naylor gives you it all. And that's because in a loving family like Willow Springs, no one character is insignificant. They all matter whether they want to or not. And so Naylor gives you a clear picture of Little Caesar in his short time in the book. The characterization is perfect and I think we can all relate to the child she shows us, alive with new life and devoid of the common sense and politeness of an adult, evident in his rude "Gimme some Juice" (Naylor 238). Just what a child should be. We also get a great sense of Bernice's character when we see what lengths she goes through to get little Caesar in the first place. She knew the fertility pills she took were harmful to her and this was indicated by the quote, "Dr. Smithfield never gave her no fertility pills - he told her long ago her system couldn't handle 'em," (Naylor 72-88). But her love of Ambush and the ideal of them being a family was that strong. And when Little Caesar dies you feel the pain of the love lost there. This was shown by the quote, "The woman had gone out of her mind when that child died (Naylor 269)." This is when Gloria's deep characterization pays off.

The structure, though odd, succeeds in putting in everyone's love life and tribulations. Never before, to my knowledge, has an author used a third person point of view and almost every character's first person point of view in a rather chapterless, continuous, and some would argue monotonous way. This odd structure allows love t

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1071
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English