In the Patricia Smith article, "Talking Wrong" the author is saddened by the steps her mother is taking to get rid of her "native tongue." The author is trying to convey the loss that she feels through her mother's assimilation process. Although to many people talking "Northern" is a simple thing, the author is saddened by the process. To the author, talking "northern" is more than a way to speak, it is a part of her identity.
The loss of her mother's southern ways of speaking symbolize the loss that the author feels within herself. The absence of phrases such as, "ain't got" and "don't have" represent the transition that the author's mother made. These phrases brought comfort to the author. Although she is still the same person, the author's mother is viewed differently by the author due to the transition she made.
1 comment:
I also got the sense that the author, Smith, felt a sense of lose when her mother was speaking in a "northern" voice. I think that she is shaken because her mother, someone she looks up to and respects, feels inadequate for a quality that Smith loved.
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