Mama: Analysis of Major Characters
"Mama: Analysis of Major Characters" explores the complex lives of several key figures, primarily focusing on Mildred Peacock, a resilient African American mother navigating the challenges of life in the turbulent 1960s and 1970s. Mildred, a high school dropout and single mother of five, endures years of physical and emotional abuse from her husband, Crook Peacock, before ultimately seeking a better life for herself and her children after their divorce. Her determination to provide for her family leads her to take on various jobs, including working on an assembly line and briefly engaging in prostitution, as well as relying on government aid.
The narrative also examines her oldest daughter, Freda, who, at a young age, takes on significant responsibility for the family and strives to escape their chaotic life by pursuing education and involvement in social movements. Freda's journey is marked by her struggles with trauma, substance abuse, and ultimately, her path to recovery. Another significant character is Curly Mae, Mildred's sister-in-law, who grapples with low self-esteem and the effects of addiction, yet serves as a vital source of support for Mildred. Together, these characters depict the themes of love, resilience, and the pursuit of a better life amid adversity, making their stories both poignant and reflective of broader social issues.
Mama: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Terry McMillan
First published: 1987
Genre: Novel
Locale: Point Haven, Michigan; Los Angeles, California; and New York City
Plot: Social realism
Time: 1964–1984
Mildred Peacock, a black mother of five. Mildred struggles to rear her children during the turbulent 1960's and 1970's. She has a great capacity for living, and many of her actions reveal her unflinching desire to help her children live as fully as possible. In addition, Mildred wants to love and be loved. After becoming pregnant when she is seventeen, she marries her child's father, Crook Peacock, who brings little love to her life; she has four more children by him, and he abuses her physically and emotionally. Mildred takes his abuse for ten years before she divorces him. As a single mother and a high school dropout, Mildred does whatever she can to pay her rent and utilities and put food on the table for her children. She works on an assembly line before she is laid off, and she even works briefly as a prostitute to keep her children from starving. Mildred even swallows her pride and applies for and receives government aid. For Mildred, rearing children is not everything. She tries to find love in the arms of a number of men, eventually marrying two more times. Life in Point Haven, Michigan, is difficult as Mildred struggles to make ends meet. After her oldest daughter moves to Los Angeles, Mildred moves there too; her children's lives continue to be important to her, and she continues to have financial problems. Mildred often drinks too much, and after the thrill of Los Angeles fades and her children are grown, she returns to Point Haven. When she realizes she is getting old and that the sort of love she wanted is not going to enter her life, she gives up drinking, comes to love her old sagging self, and accepts the fact that she has triumphed, at least in one area, for all of her children are healthy and relatively happy adults.
Freda, Mildred's oldest daughter. When the novel begins, Freda is ten years old, and she thinks it is her responsibility to help Mildred rear the children, which means that Freda is the one to create order out of the chaos of Mildred's life. Freda is a younger version of Mildred. Even as a child, she is depicted as plotting and scheming. Freda smokes cigarettes, secures a part-time job, and vows at an early age to escape the moving, eviction notices, and bills that encircle her mother's life. She is almost raped when she is a young teen by one of Mildred's boyfriends, and she keeps this pain from her mother for many years, though the pain plagues her relationships with men and has something to do with her own adult alcoholism. Freda takes the steps that Mildred has been unable to take and leaves Point Haven, going to Los Angeles, where she secures a job, attends college, and becomes involved in the Black Power and feminist movements of the early 1970's. Freda helps Mildred and the rest of her family move to Los Angeles. Freda does so well in college that she is offered a scholarship to attend Stanford University, where she meets Delbert and has her first serious and long-term relationship. Delbert introduces Freda to cocaine and other drugs. She gives up cocaine but becomes a puppet to alcohol. On her thirtieth birthday, when she looks in the mirror and sees her mother's worn and tired face, she calls the local Alcoholics Anonymous chapter and takes charge of her life.
Curly Mae, Mildred's sister-in-law and best friend. Curly Mae suffers from low self-esteem, in part as a result of her husband's neglect. During her marriage, her husband asks her to work as a prostitute, and she agrees. Like Mildred, Curly Mae drinks too much, and her drinking takes its toll; she has her first stroke while in her early forties and her second one a few years later. More than anything, however, Curly Mae is the listening ear that Mildred needs.