She is also a source of stability because she brings humanity to Linda and her brother when they are in an inhuman situation. For me, this shows stability; the ability to remain consistent and maintain some sort of harmony in a dire situation. And, even though her grandmother is angry with Linda for getting pregnant later on, she still accepts her and loves her in the end. I think this shows remarkable courage. I'm certain that watching her grandchildren and children be dehumanized and demoralized in this way was almost impossible; however, from what the reader sees, Linda's grandmother takes every situation that comes their way with patience and faith. I think this is remarkable considering the circumstances.
For me, having this stability for Linda in the earlier parts of the book is good for her. It keeps her human and reminds her that family is the most important part of all of this. Do you think Linda's grandmother lessened the blows of the things that were occurring (as much as they could be)?
Bethany,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you wholeheartedly! Linda's grandmother is indeed the "rock" of the family. She is the glue that holds the otherwise torn apart family together! We can even understand that she would never have been so angry with Linda if Linda had told her about the old doctor's advances. Still, Linda kept that to herself to protect her grandmother. The grandmother knew that Linda had freely participated in getting pregnant, but she didn't know the "why" of it. Of course, she felt betrayed by a child that she thought she'd trained "up in the way that she should go." Linda was afraid of what her grandmother would do if she knew of the evil doctor's attempts to corrupt her granddaughter. So, in keeping silent, she hurt her grandmother. However, the hurt was to keep her safe. If the grandmother had known, she might have done something that would have endangered her, and Linda did not want that!
Good observations!
Cindy
The role of Linda's grandmother demonstrates that family was one of the most important things in a slave's life, so I agree with this blog. Family was one of the only things a slave had, and if they had the privilege of being within close distance of each other, I think they wanted to take advantage of that before it was too late (i.e one of them got killed).
ReplyDeleteAlso, her grandmother may have been disappointed with her for getting pregnant when she had "trained her up in the way she should go", but in reality, Linda demonstrated great wisdom and care in not telling her the "why" of everything. I think this is something she learned from her grandmother. She had great wisdom in withholding an explanation from her grandmother because of what would have happened had she told her. This is yet, another example of the love that held slave families together.