Sadness is more or less like a head cold - with patience, it passes. Depression is like cancer.
Barbara KingsolverRead
For time and eternity there have been fathers like Nathan who simply can see no way to have a daughter but to own her like a plot of land. To work her, plow her under, rain down a dreadful poison upon her. Miraculously, it causes these girls to grow. They elongate on the pale slender stalks of their longing, like sunflowers with heavy heads. You can shield them with your body and soul, trying to absorb that awful rain, but they'll still move toward him. Without cease they'll bend to his light.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the complex dynamics between fathers and daughters, highlighting possessiveness and the natural yearning for independence.
Barbara Kingsolver's quote delves into the fraught connection between fathers and their daughters, illustrating how an abusive or controlling relationship can manifest metaphorically as a struggle against male dominance. The imagery of nurturing a daughter while simultaneously imposing harmful expectations showcases the tension between protection and possession, revealing the profound impact such relationships can have on a girl's growth and autonomy. Ultimately, it emphasizes the painful journey of seeking light and acceptance in the face of oppressive love.
Themes
FathersDaughtersRelationshipsPossessionAbuseGrowth
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about father-daughter relationships at a parenting seminar.
More from Barbara Kingsolver
All quotes →Children can be your heartache. But that doesn't matter, you have to go on and have them . . . it works out.
Barbara KingsolverRead
I'm of a fearsome mind to throw my arms around every living librarian who crosses my path, on behalf of the souls they never knew they saved.
Barbara KingsolverRead
I did it to win love, and to prove myself capable. Not to move mountains. In my opinions, mountains don't move. They only look changed when you look down on them from great height.
Barbara KingsolverRead
Memory is a complicated thing, a relative to truth, but not its twin.
Barbara KingsolverRead
Empathy is really the opposite of spiritual meanness. It's the capacity to understand that every war is both won and lost. And that someone else's pain is as meaningful as your own.
Barbara KingsolverRead
Similar quotes
At the bottom of things, most people want to be understood and appreciated.
Gautama BuddhaRead
Martina's gone with people who don't want to be out, and it drives her crazy because she'd rather be open.
Billie Jean KingRead
I missed you even when I was with you. That’s been my problem. I miss what I already have, and I surround myself with things that are missing.
Jonathan Safran FoerRead
When you're Black in America, you spend a lot of time counting firsts. The higher the first, the more we marvel (and shake our heads at how long it took to happen.) The higher the first, the more the person who achieved it comes to represent how we want the nation to see us.
Jonathan CapehartRead
Someone will ask later, sometimes searching for a name, his own or someone's else's why I neglected his sadness or his love... But I didn't have enough time or ink for everyone. Or maybe it was the strain of the city, of time the cold heart of the clocks.
Pablo NerudaRead
I love living around black people. Home is home. We suffer under racism and the physical deprivations that come with that, but beneath that, we form cultures and traditions that are beautiful.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesRead