The relationship between Lily and Rosaleen does have some
mother-daughter aspects. Remember that Lily is motherless, and Rosaleen is the adult
female in the household. She takes care of Lily, cooking the meals and maintaining the
house. She gives Lily love, rescuing Lily from her father's extreme punishments and
celebrating her birthday. She sets limits for Lily, just as a mother would
do.
What might be confusing about the question is that
there are aspects of the relationship that are not like those of a mother and daughter.
For example, because of race relations in the South in the 1960s, Rosaleen is considered
"unequal" to Lily because she is African-American. This gives Lily the ability to act in
ways that she could never act with a mother, such as persuading Rosaleen to run away.
Also, there are ways in which Rosaleen is really looking for a mother figure for
herself, too, which makes Lily and Rosaleen more equal, with both of them really
searching for mothers.
It might be interesting to write a
compare and contrast paper on this topic. Can you think of other examples of how
Rosaleen is like Lily's mother? Can you think of other reasons she is not like a mother
to her?
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