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Ima Student
Ms. Nordsiek
American Literature Honors
30 April 2007
Repression of African American Women in Gloria Naylor’s Writing
"Nature intended women to be our slaves. They are (man’s) property” (Napoleon Bonaparte). In Gloria Naylor’s three novels The Women of Brewsterplace, Mama Day, and Bailey’s Café, overpowering males treat African American women harshly. In The Women of Brewsterplace, the majority of characters are African American females who experience very challenging lives in that they are continually abused. These characters are abused both physically and mentally, especially in the case of Mattie Michael. Her earlier years as a young, single mother affect her life greatly. Mama Day’s main character Cocoa Day experiences anger, frustration and loneliness when her husband, George Andrews attempts to dominate their marriage. In Bailey’s Café, the character of Eve lives with her grandfather, who cruelly disowns Eve later in the novel, and leaves her with nothing. These brief stories are only a few of the many examples of abused African American women seen in Gloria Naylor’s novels. Unfortunately, many of Gloria Naylor’s African American women characters do not lead successful, happy lives. Through the characters in the three novels The Women of Brewsterplace, Mama Day, and Bailey’s Café, Gloria Naylor demonstrates that the repression and abuse of African American women by men results in corrupted, restricted lives.
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Mattie Michael, of Women of Brewsterplace, deals with many problems throughout her life, mainly due to her young-age pregnancy. When Mattie’s father finds out that she is pregnant, he becomes upset. However, when Mattie does not tell him who the father of the baby is, he becomes enraged. Mattie’s father violently abuses her and almost kills her. Naylor describes the brutal scene, “A slow moan came from the pile of torn clothes and bruised flesh on the floor. Sam Michael looked at it, saw it was his daughter…” (24). The brutal beating Mattie receives from her father is only one of the hardships she encounters throughout her life. Her son, Basil, is born and she cares incredibly deeply for her only child. Mattie tries extremely hard to be a good mother to Basil. However, Basil is completely unappreciative of what his mother does for him. Basil becomes involved in illegal activities of which Mattie is not aware. Whenever he needs help, Mattie is completely grateful to aid him. Basil does not change his ways when a bystander to a crime takes him to court. Despite his mother’s pleads, Basil continues his illegal activities and is eventually murdered. “So then, who was this stranger who had done away with her little boy and left her with no one and so alone?” (Naylor 42). Mattie experiences extreme loneliness and grieves terribly for her lost son whom she loved so deeply. Following the death of her son, Mattie moves to Brewster Place, where she hopes to find someone else for whom she will care. Mattie Michael does not end up leading a successful life, but does try her best to help other women who are struggling in similar situations to her own. Luciela Louise Turner is one woman who Mattie helps through extremely rough times.
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In Women of Brewster Place, Luciela Turner’s husband continually neglects her, despite the sudden death of their only child, Serena. “‘No, you can’t go,’ Ciel said. ‘Why?’ ‘Because I love you.’ ‘Well, that ain’t good enough’” (Naylor 100). Eugene announces that he plans to leave Ciel and Serena to work in another state and Luciela begs him not to leave. Despite Ciel being very aware that Eugene cheats on her, she continues to love him. Eugene treats Ciel extremely poorly and barely helps her take care of Serena. He does not consider Ciel’s feelings whatsoever as he leaves her and Serena alone. Luciela goes through a very traumatic time after her daughter dies. She first goes through a period where she refuses to feel any emotion. Thanks to Mattie, Ciel is revived from this period, but instead experiences extreme depression. Luciela receives no comfort from her husband. Eugene fails to come to his own daughter’s funeral. Critic Jane L. Ball explains that, “This novel (Women of Brewsterplace) portrays women as survivors who must deal with the damage done to them by men.” Although Eugene does not physically abuse Ciel, he still damages her emotionally when he does not take her feelings into consideration. The male characters in Gloria Naylor’s novels are portrayed as selfish and uncaring. Lorraine’s few experiences with male characters support this statement fully.
Many characters in the novel, The Women of Brewsterplace, abuse Lorraine both mentally and physically due to her homosexuality. Lorraine may be the most extremely abused and harassed character in any of Gloria Naylor’s novels due to not only her gender and race, but her sexual orientation as well. When Lorraine tells her family that she is a homosexual, her father immediately disowns her. She also loses her job as a
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teacher and eventually moves to Brewster Place. When the local gang at Brewster Place, led by C.C. Baker, discovers that Lorraine is a lesbian, they make it a point to harass and mock her. Naylor portrays the scene through insulting dialogue, “Ya laughing at me, huh freak? I oughta come over there and stick my fist in your mouth!” (162). When Lorraine is returning home from work one night, C.C. Baker and his gang intercept her. They begin beating her over and over again and each one of them rapes her. The gang leaves Lorraine to die alone in the alley. Critic Linda L. Labin explains, “The climactic gang rape of Lorraine reflects Naylor’s theme of male violence directed at women.” The damage done by men to women is unchanging in Gloria Naylor’s novels. Lorraine experiences a harsh, brutal murder due to others who place themselves higher than her and see her as inferior due to her differences. The situation is somewhat similar in the case of Cocoa Day.
The reader explores the character of Cocoa Day, from Mama Day, whose life becomes more and more complicated due to her husband’s arrogance towards her. “Our worst fight ever. And it was all your fault” (Naylor 230). George, Cocoa’s husband, is completely unwilling to take the blame for anything that goes wrong in the novel. While he does care greatly for Cocoa, he will always position his beliefs and ideas ahead of Cocoa’s. George also has a very hard time forgiving his wife for something she may have done wrong. While it may not even be to Cocoa’s fault, George is not always willing to come to terms with Cocoa. Naylor further shows George’s stubbornness, “He turns his back to her and when she asks if maybe he’d want another piece of pie, he ignores her and keeps on talking (240). The reader does not depict George as an evil character,
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although they do not necessarily respect George to the utmost potential. Critic Jim McWilliams states, “Early in the novel, he is seen as a product of New York, which means he has little faith in anything other than himself.” George is self-centered and believes that he is always correct. When Cocoa mysteriously becomes ill in the middle of the novel, George takes it upon himself to cure her of her illness. Mama Day, Cocoa’s grandmother, is a very wise, intelligent woman who has experience with medicines and cures. However, George does not want to trust Mama Day’s advice and feels that he will be able to cure her himself. George does end up saving Cocoa, but to the expense of his own life. George does not realize that if he were to take Mama Day’s advice, he would save both Cocoa’s life and his own life. While George did care for Cocoa, many male characters in Gloria Naylor’s novels were simply uncaring and neglectful, as seen in the character of Junior Lee.
The reader sees Ruby Lee, of Mama Day as insane, partially due to the ill treatment she receives from her husband, Junior Lee. Ruby Lee becomes very jealous of any woman to whom her husband may talk. When Ruby sees her husband with another woman, she becomes completely infuriated. Many of the characters in Mama Day, as well as the reader may portray Ruby as insane and extremely cold-hearted because of the harsh, extreme things she does to other women to whom Junior Lee may speak. For example, When Ruby overhears Junior Lee talking to Cocoa, she becomes quite angry. It is deciphered that Ruby Lee was the one to make Cocoa sick, simply because Cocoa spoke with Junior Lee. The reader may believe that Ruby is unkind and disturbed, but they may not realize that Junior Lee is the actual villain. Junior Lee neglects and betrays
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his wife multiple times, which is the main cause of her angry character. Ruby’s character is completely different from the character of Eve, who learns to take care of herself when she finds herself alone.
Eve’s grandfather abandons her in Bailey’s Café, and her life becomes corrupt as a result. Eve grows up as a young child with a decent life. She lives with her grandfather who takes care of her. However, when her grandfather discovers her masturbating outside of their farmhouse, he immediately sends her out on her own. “He said I was going to leave him the same way he’d found me, naked and hungry” (Naylor 88). Her grandfather throws her out of her home with nothing, and forces her to make a living on her own. Miraculously, is able to do this without aid. However, Eve does not make a living in a very acceptable manner. She starts her own business as a manager to a prostitution home. Eve enters a corrupted lifestyle because it is the only way for her to make money sufficient enough for her own needs. If a boy Eve’s age had been found masturbating, the boy would have most likely been punished, but he would not have been disowned. “Because the majority of Naylor’s characters are Black women, the dangers posed by the white, capitalistic, patriarchal power structures of the world they inhabit are legion” (Fowler 141). Eve is given little hope when her grandfather throws out of her home as an African American woman. Black women of the time period were almost never seen as successful people. Critic Christine H. King believes, “Moreover, in the conclusion of the novel, many critics have observed a change in tone from Naylor’s earlier works, which offered little hope to African Americans (who were seen as victims of the white establishment) and even less to black women (who were shown bound by sexism as well
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as by racism).” Considering the unfair disadvantages given to African American women of the time period, Eve impresses the reader because she is comfortable with her income. However, there are other women, such as Esther and Sadie, who do not have such benefits that Eve has.
In Bailey’s Café, Esther’s extremely young, forced marriage to a sexually abusive husband leads to a miserable life. Esther is forced to marry a man whom she does not know at the age of twelve. Her brother sells her to this brutally abusive man for his own profit. Her harsh youth gives reason for her unhappy, hateful adult years. Naylor further emphasizes Esther’s unhappiness, “It was hard to believe that someone’s hate could change the air that way” (94). Esther resorts to Eve through Bailey’s Café and Eve takes care of her. Critic Phillip Page explains why people visit Bailey’s Café: “The lives of these visitors to the neighborhood of Bailey’s Café have been marred by their horrific encounters with racial and gender discrimination.” Esther comes to be known as a woman who hates men. This is easily comprehendible because of her past experiences with men. Once Eve begins to guide Esther in a different direction, Esther realizes that her brother used her. Eve explains to her that she never had an actual husband. She begins to understand that her “husband” manipulated into believing that her lifestyle is normal.
She even believes the two extremely cruel male characters when they tell her that she should be grateful for the lifestyle that she experiences. The character of Sadie, however, knows that she is not living a normal life.
Coming from a neglectful, corrupted background, Sadie, from Bailey’s Café, leads a damaged, lonely life. Naylor explains to the reader, “Sadie heard it so much from
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her mama that she thought it was her name when she was little” The One The Coat Hanger Missed” (41). Sadie’s mother did not want children, and gave birth to Sadie completely by mistake. Sadie’s early life is very tough as an extremely neglected,
unwanted child. The very few times that Sadie’s mother does pay attention to her is when her mother is drunk and physically abuses Sadie. By the time that Sadie is fifteen years old, she is basically living on her own and providing for herself. Many times, in order to make the amount of money that she feels sufficient, she would resort to prostitution. Her mother also sold her for prostitution for her own profits. “Sadie’s mother contemptuously uses her child first as a servant and then as a profitable prostitute” (Reisman). Once Sadie begins living on her own, she meets her future husband, Daniel. Daniel is also an alcoholic, who becomes abusive when he is drunk. Through a combination of her alcoholic mother and husband, Sadie adopted the bad habit of drinking alcohol, especially when times become tough. “Dreams had been dying around Sadie all of her life. There were no more dreams” (Naylor 64). Unfortunately, dreams are not present for any of Gloria Naylor’s African American women characters.
Gloria Naylor establishes the idea that African American women who experience brutal treatment by overpowering males live extremely poorly, through the numerous
female African American characters in her novels. Luciela Louise Turner experiences a lonely life due to her husband’s neglectful treatment, and ultimately, the death of her daughter. The reader sees Ruby Lee from Mama Day as evil, while the true criminal is her cheating husband, Junior. Sweet Esther experiences pain and anguish throughout her entire life due to her brother’s lack of sensitivity. Fortunately, these characters who
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experience such hardships and traumatic events are able to survive, although they are not happy. Through one another, the women find help. Because each woman undergoes similar situations in which they are treated unjustly, they discover the inspiration to aid each other. Naylor tries to prove that a world without discrimination and brutal judgment may mend some of the lost, broken lives that many experience.
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Works Cited
Ball, Jane L. “The Women of Brewster Place.” Salem Press. 2003. Ebscohost 6 Feb 2008.
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Fowler, Virginia C. Gloria Naylor: In Search of Sanctuary. USA: Twayne Publishers,
1996.
King, Christine H. “Gloria Naylor” Salem Press. 2000: ebscohost 6 Feb 2007.
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Labin, Linda L. “The Women of Brewster Place” Salem Press. 1995: Ebscohost. 6 Feb
2007. <
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McWilliams, Jim. “Mama Day” Salem Press. 2000: Ebscohost 6 Feb 2007.
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Naylor, Gloria. Bailey’s Café. Orlando: Vintage, 1992.
Naylor, Gloria. Mama Day. USA: Vintage, 1988.
Naylor, Gloria. The Women of Brewster Place. USA: Penguin Books, 1982.
Page, Phillip. “Living with the Abyss.” Rev of Bailey’s Café by Gloria Naylor.
Contemporary Literary Criticism. 2002: vol 156
Reisman, Rosemary M. Canfield. “Bailey’s Café” Salem Press. 1998: Ebscohost 6 Feb
2007. <
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Bibliography
Ball, Jane L. “The Women of Brewster Place.” Salem Press. 2003. Ebscohost 6 Feb 2008.
<
b1af-38260ad67d43%40sessionmgr107>
Fowler, Virginia C. Gloria Naylor: In Search of Sanctuary. USA: Twayne Publishers,
1996.
King, Christine H. “Gloria Naylor” Salem Press. 2000: ebscohost 6 Feb 2007.
<
b1af-38260ad67d43%40sessionmgr107>
Labin, Linda L. “The Women of Brewster Place” Salem Press. 1995: Ebscohost. 6 Feb
2007. <
40bb-b1af-38260ad67d43%40sessionmgr107>
McWilliams, Jim. “Mama Day” Salem Press. 2000: Ebscohost 6 Feb 2007.