Elba

A detailed Summary of Elba

Fran's mother is dying of cancer but she has lived a more full and satisfying life that her daughter although it had been a sad one. Fran's mother had, of course, been married and at one time been devoted wife, mother and homemaker. She had endured a difficult marriage since her husband was "rigid, inflexible and unforgiving."(p. 6) She probably put up with such a nasty man for the sake of her daughter Fran. She did experience the joy of motherhood and the trials and tribulations of parenthood while simultaneously living with a stern and probably mean spouse.

In the story, we also get a sense that Lillian had many friends since she enjoyed, and was so expert at, letter writing although this skill had waned as she grew older and cancer had weakened her.

Fran's mother also had a strong sense of motherhood. She was willing to give up her whole world (husband, home, friends) for the sake of her unwed pregnant daughter. As the author states in a reference to the story of the duke and duchess of windson "when someone gives up the world for you, you become their world."(p. 15) In this sense Lillian gave up everything for Fran and so Fran become the whole world

On the other hand, Fran, the daughter, seems to have lived a shallow, empty and unfulfilled life. Being an unwed mother at 16 and having to give up her baby daughter for immediate adoption seems to have shaped her life in a most tragic way. She never finished high school, and had to leave her home, father and friends at a very tender time in her life. The premature pregnancy came all too soon. All this happened at a time when an unwed teenager carrying a baby was a social disgrace. Her father, whom she dearly loved, literally turned his back on her as well as her mother. She never got the chance to grow and mature as a young woman nor to finish her education while simultaneously losing her father and breaking up her parent's marriage. Probably because of her father's rejection and abandonment of her, she became sour and bitter towards men and thus never married. Because of this, she never got a chance to experience true motherhood nor to have a family of her own. Her early unwanted teenage pregnancy seemed to affect the rest of her adult life in a negative way.

Frank fills up her empty life by oil painting which, at first, starts as a hobby but develops later into a income producing career. Her painting seems to allow her to live her empty life in the "present moment" and not to regret past tragedies nor to fear future unfulfilled dreams or aspirations. The author also mentions that Fran does not like to wri

Some common words found in the essay are:
Lillian Fran, Keis Fran's, Fran Fran, fran's mother, English Composition, mother dying, mother gone, biological daughter, life tragic, life fulfilled, fran daughter, mother dies, unwed pregnant, lillian fran,

Approximate Word count = 964
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous