Heather Ingram
04/13/2018
EN-111
A strong female role model is beneficial to a child. While, it doesn’t always ensure that
the child will grow up to be successful and strong willed. It gives the child a good opportunity.
There are different ways that someone can turn out based on how they were raised. This supports
that a child that grows up with a strong female role model has a good chance of being a tough
individual themselves. It could be argued that it is nurture over nature that shapes a person’s life.
An individual might be strong minded from a young age or they may show the traits later in life.
In most of these stories, the strong female lead is raising these children without a father. This is
where they draw their strength. This is a parent being both mother and father to the child.
In some circumstances a story doesn’t inform the audience whether the individual is a
tough person or not. For example, in “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, it infers that the mother is a
mighty woman giving her daughter advice on how to be a good woman. This story does have a
father who isn’t an important part of the story. It is never revealed if the girl is going to be like
her mother or go on to be promiscuous as her mother fears. It seems that the child may be tough
because of the way she defends herself. This shows that she does have a mind of her own by
disagreeing with her mother. The acting out may also be a sign of her independence and strong
will. It could be argued that the child is showing immaturity and not strength. There isn’t enough
information to ascertain whether its immaturity or strong will. It is plausible that the character
might not develop traits like her mother until she is older.
To demonstrate that individuals may not show any sense of obstinance until older, there
are a few examples to reiterate that point. In “Everyday Use” the character Maggie was shown as
weak willed and very shy. At the end of the story it shows her in a different light. She seems
almost willful after her mother defends her against her sister. When an individual has a powerful
person in their life sticking up for them, it gives them the power to take on that role as well.
Another example is Wal...
