Book: Mama

Author: Terry McMillan

ISBN: 0-671-74523-9

New York: Washington Square Press, 1987

       Terry McMillan's Mama is enjoyable to read because she constantly creates surprises for her readers. While the theme of the novel is purportedly the regeneration of an African American mother who is struggling through oppression, McMillan never really offers her audience a sense that Mildred, the mother and main protagonist, undergoes an inner transformation by the novel's end. Mildred travels from Point Haven, Michigan to sunny California and has five children, all of whom undergo different changes as her life progresses. Battling loneliness, alienation, poverty, and sexism, Mildred has her share of problems to handle. Mildred has an exciting life because all of the twists and turns she experiences as her children mature. A chronic alcoholic, she does not realize that her drinking is a problem, nor does her daughter Freda and her son Money, both of whom are addicted to drugs. The most redeeming aspect of this novel is McMillan's writing style: she is able to capture the zaniness of a frequently moneyless mother and the vitality of the African American vernacular. She keeps her audience glued to Mildred's story in anticipation of Mildred's redemption and inner transformation. Another important aspect of McMillan's first novel is her uncanny ability to make characters who are ignorant of their own personal shortcomings appear sympathetic to her readers. Mildred's fast-paced lifestyle, her impatience, her struggle with loneliness, and her ignorance concerning the right thing to do are a result of the environment she grew up in, an environment deficient in human values.

       Here is a passage from Mama:

Freda pressed her head into Mildred's bare shoulder.  A piece of red hair curled like a C within eye level. Mildred's breasts felt full against her hown, and Freda couldn't tell whose were whose. They held each other up. They patted each other's back as if each had fallen and scraped a knee and had no one else to turn to for comfort. It seemed as if they hugged each other for the past and for the future. (McMillan 260)

This passage illustrates McMillan's writing style. She is able to capture the insecurities of working class single mothers who are plagued by alcoholism, insecurity, and ignorance. McMillan's audience doubtless desires for Mildred's transformation and is touched by this scene between mother and daughter, a symbol of family reunion; however, questions always linger about how lasting Mildred's transformation will be since she is still engaged in the familiar habits of drinking and cursing.

       McMillan's ability to portray realistically a family in crisis, plagued by the problems of alcoholism and ignorance, while making the mother (perhaps the adult one would hold responsible for the problems of alcoholism and ignorance) appear sympathetic, is exceptional:

Mildred's tears came quickly as she walked up the carpeted stairs to her bedroom.... She unscrewed the top of the bottle and drank from it, then pulled the covers over her because her teeth were chattering. She drank some more. A lot happens in thirty years, she thought. Too much. She took another swig and rolled over on her back. And not enough. The beige ceiling sloped. Mildred took another sip from the bottle and the whiskey ran down the side of her mouth. (246)

McMillan uses a sober, realistic style to describe the realities of alcoholism and the self-destruction it can cause. Her realistic style and her ability to capture the inner thoughts of an addict make Mama a unique book to read. She is able to convey the insecurities and fears of a marginalized class in a materialistic society, estranged from the values of spirituality and self-education.

Works Cited

McMillan, Terry. Mama. New York: Washington Square Press, 1987.