Desiree braves marriage to a mean racist, gives birth to a little boy, only to be ostracized from her husband’s plantation due to the skin color of her child. She collapses under the weight of the rejection and commits suicide along with her boy. Does this act demonstrate the depth of her love toward the little boy, or a complete defeat against a racist society? Girl is not so lucky; under the guise of giving life lessons and directions, the mother calls her names and banks on her assumption that she is "bent on" becoming a slut. Here the parent role is negative and over-powering. This is not how you raise a confident daughter. And for Emily, the parent is non-existent. She is raised by a forceful father who scared away all of her suitors. Then he dies and she has nothing to build her life and identity around. The need to have and keep a man is so strong in her that she commits murder. So look at Desiree (an example of fearful parenting) girl’s mother (an example of negativity) and Emily’s dad (an example of rigid societal expectations) and tell me how each parent is responsible for the person they are meant to care for. Our identity is made of various contributing pieces coming from our parents. Show me how these three stories examine parenting in different eras, genders, locations, and social class.