"She say that's weakness and that's crybaby stuff, and she don't want no crybaby round her. She don't want you to be scared, either. 'Cause Ty's scared of ghosts and she's always whipping him. I'm scared of the dark, too, but I make 'tend I ain't. I make 'tend I ain't 'cause I'm the oldest, and I got to set a good sample for the rest. I can't ever be scared and I can't ever cry."
I found this passage a bit cruel as they are just kids. I understand the older brother part, but Ty can't be scared or else he'll get hit. The same thing with the older brother, but he knows this already. I believe that since they're kids, they should have fears and not get hurt for it. Even adults have fears but they don't get punished for it.
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4 comments:
I understand this because it ties in to what I was saying on my blog "limiting freedom or childhood. I agree with you because fears are a natural thing and even for adults. Hitting them to not be afraid is not the way to teach a person to not be afraid. Instead a more softer tone should have been used. I would like to say that being fearless is not what makes one a "man" but it is how one confronts those fears.
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stay cool.
Yeah. It seems that the adults torment their kids by hitting them. This only lowers their self esteem which will affect them later in life when they really have to stand for themselves. Or maybe the adults are trying to show their kids that the way they are being treated now is the same way that they are going to be treated later in life because of their differences.
I agree with you but they have also gone through many hardships and they have to learn to be independent if they want to survive the cruel world they live in. The mother doesn't want them to suffer as much as she might have so that's why shes trying to teach them to become men at a young age, to be able to stand up for themselves and to prevent oppression. Also, I think adults do get punished for their fears because many African American adults lived in fear of the white race and this caused them to rebel. After speaking out they would be punished for it and many were lynched.
If you think about the time they was living in adults was scared for the life of there children and themselves but they could never show it thats why she like that towards her kids and may be thats how she was brought up.
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