This page shows the analysis of themes found by Glenda Mae Greene in her cross case analysis of the three Caribean Canadians in her study of success.
THE AWESOME MOTHER
THEME | JADE | EBONI | SILVER |
Mother as nurturer |
When I was small, it was just the two of us. We did everything together (89) |
After the beatings my face tear-stained she packed my breakfast and we took the bus (97) |
I always came back to the solid touch of her upstretched palms (89) |
Mother to the rescue |
I didn't want to live in the residence hall in college. She moved house to the university town (89) |
You're better off going to school at church. There are other Black children going there (89) |
All of a sudden there was a knock on the door. My mother was there. She had my gym clothes (89) |
Mother as teacher |
She is an example to me that I could do whatever I set my mind to do (97) |
She teaches me to cook-the West Indian dishes (89) |
Always remember, it's not just you that people are seeing; it's everybody that is Black (97) |
Mother as motivator |
She's always pushing me to do good in school. Get A's (89) |
Look in the mirror. see how ugly you are (97) |
I don't want you to ever work hard like I did (97) |
Mother as therapist |
Wen yuh han' in de tiga mout', rub he head (97) |
He won't be marching down the aisle. You will (97) |
|
Mother as mirror image |
I am my mother's daughter (97) |
Becoming like my mother us my greatest fear (97) |
We're becoming just like them (97) |
Gilding the pink hibiscus |
[By omission or implicit comparison] |
I covered up what she really was like. My mother has a hard time controlling her awful temper (97) |
In my family, when you do something, you pay the consequences to the fullest. You don't get any special treatment (97) |
Most of the stories discussed here are told in a positive light. The negative side, though implicitly extant, is rarely verbalized. No where is this more clearly demonstrated than in this section. Almost any discussion about their mothers unveils a dichotomy, the witch/goddess. The witch.goddess domain is marked by vivid understatements. At the first interview Eboni used well crafted cover stories to emphasize an idealized picture of her mother. Jade gilds her mother-goddess by omission. Silver uses conciliatory explanations. Eboni's representative reminder, that it is difficult to speak about one's mother without respect (June 97), contextualizes this analysis as we consider the mother's roles in Table 1. Miles and Huberman (1984) made a strong case for creating data displays to help analyze the data. These displays shown here "allow for a more refined analysis and can lead to new displays and analyses" as we "eyeball" the data (p.82). The five storied roles of the mother are listed in Table 1 as the women-as- daughters described them. Jade, who storied the almost-perfect mother guided us through this display Jade and Silver are unequivocal in their description of the positive effect of nurturing mothers. They story a nurturing climate in which they learn and thrive. Jade stories an intense mother-daughter bond, exclusive to the outside world. "We had our own little world," she recalls. Shades of matrophobia undergird Silver's story that she shares with Eboni and me. Neither Silver or Jade mention a separation theme. Both Jade and Silver refer to the unschooled brilliance of their mothers. They story the motivating power of mothers who wanted more for their daughters than they had for themselves. While maternal motivation had little to do with the practice of education, it did much to facilitate the achievement of their educational goals. Both families changed locations to attain the college education the mothers insisted upon. The women voice instances of affirmation and adulation, which shaped the development of their will and moved them toward positive self-esteem. Eboni, in contrast, found that need for more basic physiological needs-safety and security-triggered her move away from her mother's clutches. She actively sought and found women-othermothers-who fit her description of the archetypical 'Good mother'. Despite it all, Eboni is resigned to the duty-centered reality of caring for her biological mother when she gets older. "I know I'll have to take care of her. My brothers aren't gonna do it." |