Essay Database

The novel Mama Day by Gloria Naylor explores both the intriguing relationship between a young city boy and a culturally confused girl, George and Ophelia, and the simple yet supernatural life of an old, wise woman on an isolated island entirely detached from the civilized world around her. Ophelia, or Cocoa, becomes a link between the chaotic world and hustle and bustle of the mainland and the life of Willow Springs that connects her into …

…ancestry of the Willow Springs inhabitants. Gloria Naylor's novel Mama Day effectively creates a very real place of Willow Springs for the reader. The novel exists in the modern day, however the traditional and sometimes old-fashioned ways often pull the reader into days of a much earlier time. Most importantly, the differing settings created throughout the book are the basis for the great and unique spirit of Willow Springs that is captured by the reader.