4. Florence is set in the South during the late 1940s. How might the play different if it were set in the North? If it were set today?
There will be no railing built to separate the whites and the coloured. Since the people in the North are usually not racist, there will be no boundaries for the whites people and the coloured will communicate with each other. Also, their status will also be considered as equal, which means that the people in the North especially the coloured people will have the opportunity to pursue their ambitions. Of course it will be set so that all the people especially in South will follow the culture of the North people.
5. In line 17, Marge tells Mama that she had better buy some food because she “can’t go to the diner.” Then again in line 23, Marge says that Florence has “notions a Negro woman don’t need.” What situation is Marge alluding to? Find other references to this “situation” in the play.
In question number 5, Marge is alluding to the separation of the facilities and service that a Negro gets in the train and train station. The evidence for my answer is that in the same line that is being mention in question number 5 that is line 23, the full sentence is “(touches rail) Well, you got to be strict on her. She got notions Negro women don’t need.” In the sentence we can see the word in the bracket showing that Marge is touching the rail. This evidence proves that they are at the train station and showing that Marge is giving advice to Miss Whitney at the train station. Besides, people always give advice to their family or someone closed to them about the transportation they will use if they are going to somewhere far away, for example in this story, Miss Whitney wanted to go to see Florence that is far in the northern. Other reference for this situation is in the line 163, “Mrs Carter: (slowly walks over the ‘Colored’ side near the top of the rail). In this line, it shows that the rail in the train station is dividing between the white and the black people.
6. Does Mrs. Carter think of herself as a racist? Do you agree with her assessment of herself?
My idea is Mrs. Carter is trying not being a racist. I can see that this white lady try to introduce herself to Mama that she is not a racist when she trying to stop Mama from “maming” her. Probably she doesn't want the idea to locate the “whites” on the upper level above the “colored”, even though she called porter that almost fifty years old as “boy”. Besides she doesn’t to be labeled as a Southern even though she was born there, Memphis. I can say that she like the Northern maybe because in North, people were more open minded and independent on that time, late 1940s. In the other part, when they talked about Jeff’s novel, she suddenly stops talking about Jeff’s novel when she feels she is being too racist. Then she asks Mama to forgive her and Mama is fine with that. Based from this part, I conclude that Mrs. Carter is good in controlling her words and way of talking. At first, when I saw the list of characters of this play before I read the whole play, I thought Mrs. Carter is the antagonist. This is because I already detect the racisms in this play then my set that the “whites” are always racist on that time even though I am brown, close enough to white. But I was wrong. She trying as hard as she could to avoid racism in their conversation and try to understand negro’s mind like what did she said on line 164, but still her mind is limited where she thinks that black women is limited and they only able to be maids or housewives on that time. But still I agree with her assessment because she realizes that racist is a matter of problem that prevents civilization. I like her.
7. What causes Mama to disagree with her brother’s book? What does this disagreement tell the audience about both characters?
Do you think, what causes Mama to disagree with the white character, Mrs. Carter about her brother’s book entitled Lost My Lonely Way, where she wrote about Zelma that kill herself because she was ‘almost’ white but still black where her ambition to be a lawyer was failed? Mama disagrees on Jeff’s book because the main character in that book does not have to kill her because she is black. Mama thinks that this is insanity. People commit suicide just because of their skin. Mama also tells Mrs. Carter that there’s someone who is black but she is respected by the white people. For example, her friend Essie Kitredge daughter and her cousin Hemsly that I assumed as mulattoes where I read http://www.etymonline.com/cw/mulatto.htm, mulattoes produced by a “whites” and a “blacks”. I conclude that this disagreement tell the audience that both of them have different way of thinking. Mama thinks the way of these Negros think because she is a part of it. But Mrs. Carter think and describes black people based on the whites idea on blacks for example, she thinks that maids and housewives are the only professions that fit on Negros women but Mama thinks that Florence can be anything she wanted too even though she is Negro. On the other side, I can tell that Jeff wrote that book according to the White’s mind on that time.
8. Does Mama’s view of Mrs. Carter change or remain the same as the plot develops? Why does Mama ask Mrs. Carter to help Florence? What does she learn that causes her to reject the “help” that Mrs. Carter’s offer?
Mrs. Carter advised Miss Whitney to stop her daughter, Florence, from pursuing her ambition but Miss Whitney believed that her daughter would succeed. Mrs. Carter also said that the career which Florence pursued was not very profitable because if there’s a play then, the actors will be paid but if there’s not a single play, the actors would not be paid until there’s a play again. After that, Mrs. Carter offered a help to Miss Whitney. She said that she wanted to help Florence in pursuing her ambition but actually Mrs. Carter was trying to betray Miss Whitney. Miss Whitney was very overjoyed but while having the conversation about the “help”, Miss Whitney felt a sense of betray. Mrs. Carter wanted to make Florence as a maid for Melba Rugby by giving Miss Whitney Melba’s phone number. Then, Miss Whitney asked Mrs. Carter to help Florence to pay the rents and things. Miss Whitney refused the “help” from Mrs. Carter because she knew that her daughter could be anything she wanted rather than become a maid.
9. What is Mama’s opinion of her daughter at the beginning of the play? How does this view change by the end? In what ways is Mrs. Carter responsible for this change?
At the beginning, Mama didn’t agree with Florence’s idea to become an actress. So that she plans to pick her up and bring she home. But at the train station, Mama met with Mrs. Carter that incidentally changes Mama’s opinion about Florence, her daughter. Mrs. Carter tells Mama about herself that once work as a dramatic actress. However, even though she is a white woman, but she still cannot fight the competition in this industry. To prove that Mrs. Carter is wrong, so that Mama wants to support Florence to achieve her ambition and success in this industry.
10. Although the play bears her name, Florence never appears on stage. In what senses is Florence nevertheless a character in the play? Why do you think Childress names the play for her?
I think that Florence never appears on the stage because the plays are actually about people around her. From them, we can define the character of Florence. Furthermore, we can also know about her family through the dialogue between the characters in the plays. In addition, I think the writer names the plays based on the Florence’s name because the play is actually dedicated to her ambition, her family, and her life. Even though she does not appear on the stage, but most of the dialogue and the plot is based on her.
11. Should Mama have confronted Mrs. Carter directly? What do you think would have happened had she done so?
I think Mama shouldn’t have confronted Mrs. Carter directly because she is not a kind of person that has strong racism sentiment. In line 115, she tells to Mama not to call her “mam” because its sound southern. Actually Mrs. Carter born in southern region, but she is now living in northern region where we the racism sentiment is not as tough as in southern. So, she didn’t want Mama to call her like that to show that she is not really racist rather than other white people. I also think Mama should not have confronted Mrs. Carter directly because that would get both of them into an argument. If Mama confronted Mrs. Carter, Mrs. Carter would get insulted because at the time, the blacks were underestimated by the whites. Mrs. Carter would throw many harsh words to Mama on humiliating the blacks due at the time, the blacks were not great as the whites. The blacks were just deserved to be working in low profile jobs.
12. In analysis of Alice Childress’s work, Jeanne-Marie A. Miller says, “To Childress, however, the black woman is the most heroic figure to emerge in America.” At the heart of Childress’s plays, Miller notes, is an ordinary woman “whose life is uneventful until circumstances force her to rise to the fullness of her strength”. According to Miller, “the black woman not only transcends her own predicaments but often functions as a catalyst for change in those whose lives she touches.” How does Mama fit this characterization?
Mama believes that her daughter can be anything she wanted to be because it’s her right. In this play, Mama can be the first ever coloured woman to let her daughter to pursue her ambition even if there are a lot of obstacles especially relating racism. Therefore, Mama can change the perception of the white people who look down towards the coloured people. Not only the white people, but also the coloured people so that they will realise that it is their own rights to achieve success in their life.
Group member:
· Halim
· Joe
· Nazmi
· Rabani
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