the problematics of motherhood in twentieth century women's fiction

2.2.4.2 This 'feminine' streak ~rs.~ill irnblbes from the
long generation of mothers before her.
5 6
Her family history
is one of mothers who sacrificed their life for their
children. Her great-great-grand mother was a slave whose
two chlldren were sold
The third time she stole them back,
her master agreed that she could keep them if she would take
full responsibility of feeding them.
She manages to feed
them but herself dies of slow starvation, after whlch her
chlldren are sold back
Mrs.Hill's mother herself made a
bargaln with her hard-hearted husband for allowing her
daughter to go to school
2.2.4.3. Mrs Hl11 1s depicted as Black femlnlne motherhood
person~fled Walker deplcts Merldlan, the emerglng femlnlst
mother, agalnst the backdrop of femxnlne motherhood typlfled
by Mrs Hlll
Mrs H111, a bllndly religious woman,
apparently happy rn her passivity and zn the dull chores of
everyday llfe, expects her daughter to follow her footsteps
Merldlan hates her mother for imblblng the values of
lnstltutlnal motherhood
Meridian thcught of her IMrs Hllll as Black
Motherhood personified, and of that great
institution she was In terrlble awe,
comprehendidng as she did the horror, the
narrowing of perpspectlve, for mother and chlld lt
had invariably meant (M . 931
Despite other autobiographical parallels, Merld~an's
Stralned relationship with her mother is a far cry from the