Dorcas Abiola
Xavia Dryden
02 December 2015
English 237
The Courageous Black Women ofBrewster Place and Their Lives
“The Women of Brewster Places” focuses on seven women who struggle to balance their emotional lives but are interconnected in some way as they are all residence of the Brewster place. The author Gloria Nayolar gives a combination of dual cultures of African American women migrating from the Southern to the northern part of the United States of America. Brewster place is a community. How the women of Brewster place presented each other as a pillar of strength to deal with certain obstacles in their lives. In the first chapter of The Women of Brewster Place, presents Mattie Michael the main character and pillar of the Brewster …show more content…
Kiswana who grew up in a suburban area has a passion to bring about change in the African American community, she does so by transforming Brewster Place into a social and modern community. In this chapter of the novel Naylor shows a generational difference between Kiswana and her mother. Mrs. Browne seems to be more judgmental “Before she went into the building she stood at the bottom of the stoop and carefully inspected the condition of the street and the adjoining property” (76), while Kiswana seems to be naïve on how she wants revolutionize the system but her mother tells her she has to understand and work within the African American system in order to change it.“You constantly live in a fantasy world—always going to extremes—turning butterflies into eagles, and life isn’t about that. It’s accepting what is and working from that” (85) her mother …show more content…
In this chapter the author combines racism, sex, and violence while depicting the stories of Lorraine and Theresa. Lorraine was the sensitive school teacher who was always worried about what others thought about her sexuality while Theresa was the dominant one in their relationship who cared less of that others thought of her or her sexuality. The neighbors of Brewster Place did not have a problem the lesbian couple probably because they were not interested in men, except Sophie who had an issue with the lifestyle they lived, Sophie also a resident started a campaign due to her insecurities and frivolous ways. As gossip spreads about Lorraine and Theresa,“Well, the people in this building and on the street. No one hardly speaks anymore. I mean, I’ll come in and say good evening – and just silence. It wasn’t like that when we moved in” (134) Lorraine says while taking to Theresa. Lorraine feels rejected by the neighbors of Brewster Place and then finds comfort in a friend Ben the alcoholic of Brewster Place. She finds comfort in him but one night after being ganged raped by a group of men “surrounded by the most dangerous species in existence–human males with an erection to validate in a world that was only six feet wide” (170). They leave her pain and close to death after being assaulted but she kills Ben accidentally with a brick who had been roaming the alley drunk. Mattie tried stopping Lorraine but she could
Xavia Dryden
02 December 2015
English 237
The Courageous Black Women ofBrewster Place and Their Lives
“The Women of Brewster Places” focuses on seven women who struggle to balance their emotional lives but are interconnected in some way as they are all residence of the Brewster place. The author Gloria Nayolar gives a combination of dual cultures of African American women migrating from the Southern to the northern part of the United States of America. Brewster place is a community. How the women of Brewster place presented each other as a pillar of strength to deal with certain obstacles in their lives. In the first chapter of The Women of Brewster Place, presents Mattie Michael the main character and pillar of the Brewster …show more content…
Kiswana who grew up in a suburban area has a passion to bring about change in the African American community, she does so by transforming Brewster Place into a social and modern community. In this chapter of the novel Naylor shows a generational difference between Kiswana and her mother. Mrs. Browne seems to be more judgmental “Before she went into the building she stood at the bottom of the stoop and carefully inspected the condition of the street and the adjoining property” (76), while Kiswana seems to be naïve on how she wants revolutionize the system but her mother tells her she has to understand and work within the African American system in order to change it.“You constantly live in a fantasy world—always going to extremes—turning butterflies into eagles, and life isn’t about that. It’s accepting what is and working from that” (85) her mother …show more content…
In this chapter the author combines racism, sex, and violence while depicting the stories of Lorraine and Theresa. Lorraine was the sensitive school teacher who was always worried about what others thought about her sexuality while Theresa was the dominant one in their relationship who cared less of that others thought of her or her sexuality. The neighbors of Brewster Place did not have a problem the lesbian couple probably because they were not interested in men, except Sophie who had an issue with the lifestyle they lived, Sophie also a resident started a campaign due to her insecurities and frivolous ways. As gossip spreads about Lorraine and Theresa,“Well, the people in this building and on the street. No one hardly speaks anymore. I mean, I’ll come in and say good evening – and just silence. It wasn’t like that when we moved in” (134) Lorraine says while taking to Theresa. Lorraine feels rejected by the neighbors of Brewster Place and then finds comfort in a friend Ben the alcoholic of Brewster Place. She finds comfort in him but one night after being ganged raped by a group of men “surrounded by the most dangerous species in existence–human males with an erection to validate in a world that was only six feet wide” (170). They leave her pain and close to death after being assaulted but she kills Ben accidentally with a brick who had been roaming the alley drunk. Mattie tried stopping Lorraine but she could