The Birds of Opulence
question
Amazing, but I wonder...
Stenedria
Feb 16, 2018 09:42AM
I loved this book, but by the ending, I was left a few questions.
1. Did Lucy always have depression lying underneath the surface even before she had children?
2. What's the story behind Mona's birth if Francine's husband died years before her (Mona's) birth?
3. Mona's first sexual encounter (age 9) obviously changed her, but are her views on sexuality and men a way of coping with that initial event? Right after said event she gets up and laugh it off instead of something like breaking down, crying, freaking out, etc. And this was never known to anyone other than Yolanda.
4. Did Francine Clark develop a mental illness like her mother did?
5. Was Tookie paying careful attention to Lucy (during the scene with Lucy dropping baby Yolanda) because her own mother didn't act sentimental toward her when she got pregnant?
6. Did Minnie Mae's beating Tookie in her youth stem from her disappointment with Tookie for getting pregnant at 13, or from something deeper issue?
1. Did Lucy always have depression lying underneath the surface even before she had children?
2. What's the story behind Mona's birth if Francine's husband died years before her (Mona's) birth?
3. Mona's first sexual encounter (age 9) obviously changed her, but are her views on sexuality and men a way of coping with that initial event? Right after said event she gets up and laugh it off instead of something like breaking down, crying, freaking out, etc. And this was never known to anyone other than Yolanda.
4. Did Francine Clark develop a mental illness like her mother did?
5. Was Tookie paying careful attention to Lucy (during the scene with Lucy dropping baby Yolanda) because her own mother didn't act sentimental toward her when she got pregnant?
6. Did Minnie Mae's beating Tookie in her youth stem from her disappointment with Tookie for getting pregnant at 13, or from something deeper issue?
Hi, Stenedria, I had some of these same questions, particularly your first question regarding Mona's birth (on the inside of the book jacket there is reference to Mona and Yolanda watching "THEIR mothers and grandmothers die off one by one.") [emphasis mine]. Wouldn't that imply that Joe Brown fathered both girls? That is my question added to yours, which we evidently still don't have a definitive answer. Anyone else care to comment?
Regarding your other questions:
2. That's just another question that went unanswered in the book. Some unknown male sneaked into Francine's bed and raped her, apparently.
3. I felt as though Mona's fatherless status is what made her who she was, including her desperation to "hook" the older, married man -- a father figure, maybe? Also, remember the subtle, yet curious, interaction between her and Joe Brown the day she went to the Goode/Brown home for dinner and was presented with (if I recall) a birthday cake?
4. It wasn't clear whether Francine Clark was mentally ill or was simply an introvert/loner type who shunned the small-town, gossipy way of life.
5. That sounds reasonable re: Tookie's attentiveness to her own child, particularly in light of the abuse she suffered at the hands of her own mother, Minnie Mae.
6. Minnie Mae's profound displeasure and subsequent rage stemmed from what is called, "false pride." At least that is my take on it. She was concerned with what the townsfolk would say, would think, of her as a person and of her child-raising abilities. Indeed, she was also overly concerned, perhaps, with how they would view her family as a whole.
Regarding your other questions:
2. That's just another question that went unanswered in the book. Some unknown male sneaked into Francine's bed and raped her, apparently.
3. I felt as though Mona's fatherless status is what made her who she was, including her desperation to "hook" the older, married man -- a father figure, maybe? Also, remember the subtle, yet curious, interaction between her and Joe Brown the day she went to the Goode/Brown home for dinner and was presented with (if I recall) a birthday cake?
4. It wasn't clear whether Francine Clark was mentally ill or was simply an introvert/loner type who shunned the small-town, gossipy way of life.
5. That sounds reasonable re: Tookie's attentiveness to her own child, particularly in light of the abuse she suffered at the hands of her own mother, Minnie Mae.
6. Minnie Mae's profound displeasure and subsequent rage stemmed from what is called, "false pride." At least that is my take on it. She was concerned with what the townsfolk would say, would think, of her as a person and of her child-raising abilities. Indeed, she was also overly concerned, perhaps, with how they would view her family as a whole.
all discussions on this book
|
post a new topic
Apr 19, 2019 07:33PM · flag
May 04, 2019 08:15AM · flag