We meet Eva not too long into the book and get to know her as a very independent person. Her cheating husband left her with practically nothing but 3 mouths to feed. She was the only parent figure in the peace family. She did as much as she could for her family, not much but also her neighbors would help. She had come to a point where she left her children for 18 months. We don’t know what’s she does in that time, but what we do now is that she came back a new woman, not just because she had lost one of her legs but because she was ready. Ready to be there and had returned with some money. Not too soon she was the picture of an independent strong-minded women. In the book we get a sense of how she was perceived by others. “The wagon was so low that children who spoke to her standing up were eye level with her, and adults, standing or sitting, had to look down on her. But they didn’t know it. They all had the impression that they were looking up at her, up into the open distances of her eyes, up into the soft black of her nostrils and up at the crest of her chin.” (31) When I read this, I get the image of her standing on her balcony of her house as she looks at the people, she takes care of. Not only her family but the number of people who lived in her house and feeling personally responsible for all of them. She sacrificed her own happiness and maybe health to ensure that the people she loves are taken care of. In her own unique way.
In the book A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, we meet Lena Young, but mostly known as Mama. She is the head of the household and cares for each person in that home. She has faced challenges like poverty, racism, and the death of her husband. In my opinion she is a bold character. Even with all the problems she has with her family, specifically her children, she still manages to control them in way that she always has the last word. Granted she is their mother, but it would be unthinkable to stand next to her talk out of turn. Beneatha and Mama don’t always see eye to especially when it comes to religion. In the play beneath and Mama get into a heated argument about gods role in their lives. Mama “Course you going to be a doctor honey, God willing.” Beneatha “God hasn’t got a thing to do with it.” Mama “Beneatha, that just wasn’t necessary” Beneatha “Well neither is God. I get sick of hearing about God. . . I mean it! I’m just tired of hearing about God all the time. What has he got to do with anything? Does he pay tuition?” (Hansberry, 50-51)In the book she is described as an old-fashioned woman but still supports her family’s decisions and wants the absolute best for them.
I think both of these women set the example of proud women. They’re proud of what they’ve overcome and achieved in life. But their daughters want more. They come from a different generation of course and don’t always see what their mothers have sacrificed for them. The privileges of their life that they didn’t have growing up. But can you blame them for wanting more? Isn’t that point of a growing family? To step up to the plate and bring your family name further. To achieve things to make your parents proud. I know I am. I’m a first-generation student who believes to succeed in life is to make my parents proud and do what they couldn’t. What would be the point of sacrificing so much? To do the bare minimum? No. But does that mean that should be the only thing to reach for in life? No. When you look at the relationship Eva and Hannah have and the relationship Mama and Beneatha have, you see some similarities. In the book Hannah asks her mother if she ever loved her children. Her response was “Aww, Mamma? Aww Mamma? You settin’ here with your healthy-ass self and ask me did I love you? Them big old eyes in your head would a been two holes full of maggots if I hadn’t. I didn’t mean that, Mamma. I know you fed us and all I was talking ‘bout something else. Like. Like playin’with us. Did you ever, you know, play with us?” (Morrison, 68) Eva and Hannah have a complicated relationship because they both have different point of views on what love is. Eva sees love as being a provider and Hannah sees it as doing more than that and being more a caring character for her children.
Sula takes you through the early 1900s and the struggles of mainly black women. In the 1900s Black women were taught to take care of the house and children so of course they were only taught housekeeping skills. But it was a cruel circle where women were constantly getting left, cheated on or abused by their husbands. By the time their husbands left or died, they were left to fend for themselves and their children. Colored women weren’t looked at as smart or beneficial to others, but they were resilient. They couldn’t stand to be looked at as nothing. They overcame the obstacles to become the woman they needed in their life. To be that role model in the way they knew how.
Discussion Questions
- Why do these two mothers love differently? Is it because of their experience?
- What kind of relationship do you have with your mother/mother figure that is similar or different?
Works cited
Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. Vintage Books, 1994.
Morrison, Toni. Sula. Columna, 1995.
Hi Abby I really enjoyed your interpretation of Sula and making a comparison to “A Raisin In the sun”. Growing up in a single parent household it was definitely not easy emotionally and is still a struggle now. My mother thought much like Eva, when it came down to just because they provided you with shelter and fed you and put clothes on your back that was love. And it’s not those things you are supposed to do as a parent to provide and keep your child alive. One scene that really stood out to me was when Toni stated “ With you all coughin and me watchin so TB wouldn’t take you off and if you was sleepin quiet I though, O Lord, they dead and put my hand over your mouth to feel if the breath was comin’ what you talkin’ ‘ bout did I love you girl I stayed alive for you can’t you get that through your thick head or what is that between your ears, heifer?” (Sula 69). I very much can relate to this scene because my mother would do that to us all the time if we were too quiet she would put her ear to our chest and make sure we were still breathing. Which I think stems from generational trauma. I believe Eva loves her kids but loves them she only knows how to, in 1895 like she stated “ 1895 was a killer girl. Things were bad. Niggers was dying like flies” (Sula 68) it was hard for her and for every colored person around that time and before that time. My mother barely played games with us, we just started having that emotional connection. And I don’t blame her because that was how she was raised. My mother had to raise herself most of the time to even be able to eat the next day.
Hi Abby,
This is a great blog post, I applaud your connection to the character of Lena Young in A Raisin in the Sun. This comparison adds a lot to your analysis and gives a great framework for thinking about motherhood and love in Sula, specifically Eva and Hannah’s relationship.
In regards to one of your questions, “Why do these two mothers love differently? Is it because of their experience?”, I think that this question has many answers and could be thought about in a lot of different ways. One thing that comes to mind is generational experience. In A Raisin in the Sun, this comes to light through Beneatha and Mama’s relationship, in that Beneatha has a different perspective on life and ambition than Mama because of the generation and culture she is growing up in. When Mama was growing up, she was focused on survival and was living in the context of the post-slavery South. I think we can see this as well with Eva, when Hannah asks her mom if she ever played with her as a child and Eva’s response is: “Play? Wasn’t nobody playing in 1895. Just cause you got it good now you think it was always this good? 1895 was a killer, girl. Things was bad. “N*****s was dying like flies” (68). This quote clearly shows that the type of love or affection Hannah expects is foreign to her mom because of the context she grew up in. This clearly deeply affects her behavior as a mother. I think with Mama in Raisin in the Sun, we perhaps see this less drastically because Mama maybe was not raised in as harsh conditions as Eva, but either way, we can see that the generational trauma black Americans experienced in the later 1800s and early 1900s inevitably effects the way they raise their children. Both Moms illustrate a generational shift from survival to living. This is apparent in that Eva takes in children who need a home, but she is focused on their survival, not nurturing them, because this is the experience she had growing up.
Hi Abby !
I really enjoyed reading your post and found it very well thought out. I would like now try to answer your first question : Why do these two mothers love differently? Is it because of their experience?
In “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry and “Sula” by Toni Morrison, the two mothers, respectively Lena Younger and Eva Peace, indeed exhibit different approaches to love, which can be attributed to their respective experiences and circumstances. Indeed, Lena Younger, also known as Mama, portrays a more nurturing and protective form of love. This can be seen in her interactions with her family, particularly her son Walter Lee. In Act 1, Scene 2, Mama expresses her love and concern for Walter Lee’s well-being, despite their disagreements : “Son — I come from five generations of people who was slaves and sharecroppers — but ain’t nobody in my family never let nobody pay ‘em no money that was a way of telling us we wasn’t fit to walk the earth. We ain’t never been that poor. We ain’t never been that — dead inside” (76). This quote highlights Mama’s deep-seated desire to protect her family’s dignity and integrity, even if it means sacrificing her own dreams. Her love is rooted in a history of struggle and resilience, shaping her into a strong matriarch who prioritizes her family’s well-being above all else.
On the other hand, Eva Peace demonstrates a different kind of love that is forged through adversity and loss. Eva’s love is characterized by toughness and pragmatism, shaped by her experiences of hardship and tragedy. In one poignant scene, after losing her leg in a horrific accident, Eva’s actions reflect her sacrificial love for her children : “I loved my children. When they were little, every one of ‘em was perfect. They made me laugh. I cooked for ‘em and cleaned ‘em and kept ‘em neat, and I taught ‘em how to wash their clothes, and I taught ‘em how to take care of themselves. But I wasn’t no soft motherfucker, you understand? I was no soft motherfucker.” (34) This passage illustrates Eva’s fierce devotion to her children, tempered by her resilience in the face of adversity. Despite her tough exterior, Eva’s actions speak volumes about her love for her family, as she sacrifices her own well-being for their sake.
Hi Abby! I really enjoyed your blog post, it had a lot of great insights on the topic of motherhood. To answer your second discussion question, what kind of relationship do you have with your mother/mother figure that is similar or different, my mother, much like Eva, believes that love is shown through providing for her children. I can see where Hannah comes from when she sees love differently and isn’t quite sure if her mother truly loved her children or not, “’Cept Mamma. Mamma the only one ain’t all right. Cause she didn’t love us.” (Morrison 68). It breaks your heart that Hannah is under the impression that her mom doesn’t have love for her and that the duties of motherhood are seen as an objective and a chore rather than a blessing to have kids and watch them grow and prosper in front of her. My mother, while she believes that providing for my sister and I is an important part of her role to us. she also knows that expressing her love and reassuring us that we matter and that we’re important make a huge difference on the relationship presently and in the future. Something Eva said really stood out to me, “No time. They wasn’t no time. Not none. Soon as I got one day done here come a night. With you all coughin’ and me watchin’ so TB wouldn’t take you off and if you was sleepin’ quiet I thought, O Lord, they dead and put my hand over your mouth to feel if the breath was comin’ what you talkin’ ’bout did I love you girl I stayed alive for you can’t you get that through your thick head or what is that between your ears, heifer?” (69). She is hyper focused on how much she has done for her children and family that she doesn’t even comprehend what the word love means in terms of how Hannah is viewing it. It almost breaks your heart reading this section because if you had your own mother saying this to you, would you feel loved and appreciated? I wouldn’t think so, I sure would not.
Hi Abby, I enjoyed your inclusion of both Mama and Eva in your post, both sacrificed a lot to provide for their children and it is a great comparison. The relationship I have with my mother is both similar and different to Eva and Hannah Eva is more concerned with being able to provide for the family and that is very similar to my mother, my family did do fun things but i remember my mom working the most. Hearing about how my mom started from practically nothing reminded me of what Eva says “Play? Wasn’t nobody playin’ in 1895. Just ’cause you got it good now you think it was always this good?” My mom had to work a lot and built a hair company from the ground up, I spent a lot of time with my mom in the hair salon as she worked. We did not have time to play much. My siblings and I had a lot of babysitters growing up as both my parents worked, which turned into me babysitting, my childhood turned into me playing with my siblings as they grew up instead. I can definitely relate to your comparison of what Eva and Hannah see love, as I think my mom and I fall into the same category. I’m sure my mom loves me, but she is my biggest critic, and my friends notice a shift in her behavior when I am around to a more pessimistic one. I try to be nice because we do not see eye to eye although I’m not sure why. I honestly do not know what my mom’s love language is, but I enjoy quality time, but my mom does not have the time for that due to work. She and Eva put priority on providing for the family, which is a heavy burden and I understand, but I feel like Hannah because I do not often receive love in the way I prefer it, which is difficult to grasp when people have different love languages.
Why do these two mothers love differently? Is it because of their experience?
Abby, excellent work on your blog post! I think your thesis as an entirety is fascinating. I love the comparison between Eva and Lena, as they are both in positions of authority in a struggling family. To answer your discussion question, “Why do these two mothers love differently? Is it because of their experience?” I feel that their experiences are the exact reason that they give and show love differently as a mother. To reference a quote you used in your blog post from A Raisin In the Sun, “Course you going to be a doctor honey, God willing.” (Hansberry 50) I think this quote perfectly depicts Lena’s support of her children. We know contextually that Beneatha’s desire to be a doctor is controversial during that time. However, when analyzing Eva’s actions as a mother in Sula, Eva seems harsher with her children as you describe in your blog post. I feel as though Eva acts this way simply because of what she’s been through as a mother. We know her son Plum struggled with drug use and she ultimately decided that ending his life for him was the best course of action, something that would traumatize a mother. Eva says, “I had room enough in my heart, but not in my womb, not no more.” (Morrison 71). As Eva explains to Hannah why she chose to end Plum’s life, we can understand her desperation and defeat as a mother. As Eva emotionally describes what Plum had become reduced too, her harshness as a mother can be understood. Often single mothers don’t have anyone to fall back on when they need emotional support, which can lead to serious personal issues. I sympathize with Eva as she fought to do what’s best for her children but she will always be seen as a failing mother in the end.
Good Morning Abby, it’s raining right now. But great blog posts explaining the differences in motherly love. And you asking the question to compare Eva and Hannah and apply it to our own lives is good. Well Hannah and Eva are two different types of mothers. Hannah is more laid back and looks out for herself on the surface. But this could be a way that she tries to teach Sula so that she can be more independent. As for Eva, she is strong and resilient and will go the extra mile to make sure that her children are provided for doing whatever it takes. “The very night before the day Hannah had asked Eva if she had ever loved them” This is a quote showing how Hannah could be on the softer side, wanting to get some form of recognition from her mother. Now that I have looked those over, I feel like relating back to my own mother. She could be on both sides of the coin, learning towards Eva. She is a very strong mother and I see myself more as Hannah, which makes sense in the dynamic.