Analysis Of The Story 'Snakes' By Danielle Evans

Throughout different generations, ideas and values begin to vary. What was once considered an uncommon way of living is now becoming more normal in today’s society. Older generations are less accepting of these differences because of the time period in which they grew up. In the story, “Snakes,” written by Danielle Evans, these changing concepts are seen through the actions, values, and moods of Tara, her mother, and her grandmother. The grandmother, Lydia, is a southern Caucasian who grew up in a generation in which the people were not as open-minded to differences having to do with race. Meanwhile, the mother, Amanda, grew up in a time period when people of different races were becoming more accepted and concepts such as an interracial marriage …show more content…
Even though Lydia barely knew Tara, Lydia disliked Tara from the moment she was born because she of her race and because of the relationship Lydia had with Tara’s mother. While Tara’s parents are on vacation over the summer, they send her to stay with her grandmother. From the first moment that Tara spends with her grandmother over the summer, it is apparent that she does not approve of her ethnicity. Tara goes at her grandmother’s house with her hair done in cornrows, and Lydia makes her take them out immediately. Lydia tells Tara, “You’re a perfectly decent-looking child, and for whatever reason your mother sends you here looking like a little hoodlum” (Evans 31). This was one of the first statements that Lydia said to her granddaughter all summer. By her saying this shows how much she resents Tara because of something that nobody can control. Tara’s mother married a man who was a different race than she was, and because of this Lydia not only resents Amanda but Tara, too. Interracial marriages are becoming more accepted and normal as our society grows. In the article “Black Love Report: Color-Blind Love," the author states, “The number of interracial marriages doubled between 1980 and 2008; at the end of that period, one in seven new marriages was between partners of different races or ethnicities” (Boone 88). This static shows how Tara’s grandmother was not accepting of her daughter’s husband …show more content…
Amanda was growing up in a time period in which people were becoming more accepting of different races and less prejudice. During the story Tara tells a story about her mother during her teenage years. She says, “The summer she was fifteen, my mother was forever banned from the premises of the Palisade Hills Country Club, after what was later described to me as a small vandalism incident in protest of the golf course’s de facto segregation policy” (Evans 36). Amanda was never the type of person who was not going to stand up for what she believed which ultimately led to losing the relationship she had with her mother. Amanda chose civil rights over a relationship with her family, and this decision ultimately effected Tara’s life because Lydia did not approve of the choices her daughter was making. Because Amanda and her mother grew up in different generations, they both had different opinions that they strongly believed in, and both women strongly believed in their set of values. Over time, different ways of living have become more common, and some people chose to become more accepting and others chose to stick to what values they grew up with. Acceptance does not just happen; it takes people like Amanda to make it happen. The article “Why Change Doesn’t Happen and How to Make Sure it does” lists reasons as to why people do not what to change, and one of the reasons