Look at a Teacup is an essay written by the feminist writer of
In this
essay, there are two different stories. The first story is the essayist’s
mother’s story. The second story in this essay is the story of the Second World
War which also started in 1939. The mother married in 1939 during the beginning
of the Second World War with an American who had been born in Czechoslovakia.
She had bought china cups and plates for her marriage. These cups and plates
were made in Czechoslovakia and they are beautiful. In fact, she was very
happy in her world of her cups and plates. For her, marriage and the family
were the most important things of life. Many years later, she gave these cups
to the writer because the writer is her daughter. The writer sees a connection
between herself and her mother. The teacup reminds her of her mother’s history
because her mother bought it in 1939. Through the cup the mother transfers the
culture and history of her time to the daughter. So, the cup is historical
memory only. It was made in Czechoslovakia, which was taken over and
destroyed by the armies of Adolf Hitler.
The Second
World War created various damage to human race and civilization. Many things
fell that year. Basically, ‘that year’ means the time of war that caused many
things to fall, for example, human bodies fell dead in the streets by falling
bombs. Countries, cities, industries, and a lot of other things fall. Even Czechoslovakia stopped
the production of beautiful teacups. In this period, bombs fell on the innocent
women and children. Thus, women in America revolted against the crime and atrocities
(inhumanities/barbarities) done on women. They considered the crime as a male
oppression and tyranny against women. This is why, women’s liberation movement
started. The women of this new generation show their anger by rejecting old
traditions. They consider work as the most important thing in a person’s life.
So, marriage and family lose their importance because feminists take it as a
kind of slavery. Tea cups are no more a symbol of marriage and family life for
the writer but they are actually the symbols of the war against women. On the
other hand, the essayist’s mother used to emphasize on family. Even the mother
wanted her daughter to get married. The essayist thinks past is very important
but her mother thinks it is the future that matters.
In this way,
‘the teacup’ in the essay connects the mother, the daughter, the past and the
present because it was made in 1939 in Czechoslovakia. We can guess that
by giving the teacup, the essayist’s mother intends to give her other things
like information about the past, but her mother does not explicitly tell her
about the past any more. This means that the only way the daughter can find
about her mother is by looking at the teacup.
The style of
this essay is stream of consciousness. So, the reader feels somehow puzzled to
track down the plot of the essay. Patricia expresses all her feelings try to
compete each other. So, some sentences are fragmented. Logically they do not
follow each other. The writing is beautifully decorated but the meanings are
deviated.
There is
symbolic meaning of the things. ‘Falling flowers’ implies the degrading
situation and ‘teacups’ were human rituals and arts. Certainly the essayist
refers the fall and break of culture. ‘Falling bodies’ were dying people in the
war and ‘beds’ have meaning of the battlefield where the falling bodies lay.
‘The falling of bombs onto women’ means the tragic fate of these women. They
had the disturbed married life. Fates of women were accursed by the war and
their destiny was darkened by the war and their destiny. ‘Falling countries’
refers to the degradation of humanity, peace, progress, brotherhood, culture,
etc. of the countries involved in the war. This essay presents the reality of
war and shows the real picture of the world caused by the destruction due to
war.
**SUMMARY**
Patrica Hampl’s essay talks about the Second
World War which caused a great fall in the faith of women in marriage and
family life. In this essay, the writer has symbolically mentioned about
tea-cup. The writer’s mother got married in 1939 and passed her life with her
husband. She handed down the same tradition to her daughter by giving the
teacup to her. However, many women lost their husbands, happy family life as
well as their virginity in the devastating war. As a result, the fortune and
the future of the women of writer’s generation seemed insecure and dark. Thus,
the writer and her generation are against the importance of marriage and
family. For them, marriage is painful. It is a tragedy and an end. Before 1939,
the women had sexual relationship with their husband. However, the writer’s
generation refuges to carry such previous traditions. The destructive war fills
a sense of fear in the minds. Hence the writer and her generation are afraid of
the dark future and the sense of loss after marriage.
The story/essay tells us much about the
mother daughter relationship. The teacup connects the daughter with her mother
in many ways. Hampl’s (writer) mother bought the teacup in 1939 and later she
handed it down to her daughter. Through it, the mother handed down her
tradition and culture to her daughter. Not only that, the writer reads the
history of her mother in the teacup. The cup reminds the history of her
mother’s marriage, happy family life, her culture, tradition and many things.
The story also speaks about the importance of family life before the war and
the failure in its significance after the war. Before 1939, women were passing
happy married life with their husband and children. They tried to hand down
their possessions, culture and traditions to their daughters. Hampl’s mother
did the same by giving the teacup as a gift to her daughters. But Hampl didn’t
like to carry on tradition. She didn’t like to preserve the teacup. The falling
of flowers in the teacup showed the decline of cultural norms and values. To
get married and to bear the children is considered as a great loss for them. It
showed the differences between two generations in different aspects. They
visualized their dark future and cursed themselves of being a women.
**Important Questions and Answers**
**a. Describe the mother’s attitude
towards marriage**
Answer: The Second World War was a gloomy
period for women. Bombs were exploding and men were dying. Married women were
crying for their poor destiny. Looking at these windows, unmarried young girls
were afraid of their future. The fate of the world by the war grew a critical
question over the importance of a family life. The sense of the war terrified
them and they were afraid of marriage.
**b. What do you mean by “many things fell
that year”?**
Answer: The statement suggests that many
events took place in 1939. The beginning of Second World War had destroyed and
ruined everything. Bomb fell from the sky on people, human bodies fell like
rain. Hampl’s mother and other bride fell and lost their virginity. Flowers
fell into teacups. Cities after cities and whole nation fell and vanished from
the map of the world. Tears fell from the loved ones. Everything got charred in
the bonfire of war.
**c. Explain “The cup is a detail, a small
uncharted finger from the mid-century bonfire.”**
Answer: The writer’s mother bought the teacup
in the year 1939. It was the beginning of the Second World War. In the mid-20th
century, the war broke out as a bonfire. It took the life of 55 million people
and destroyed many things. Moreover, the war ended the existence of many small
and powerless countries. The beautiful teacup was made in Czechoslovakia but
the war destroyed the art and culture of the country too. However, the cup is
still beautiful with the golden lining, decals of flower and the stamp of
Czechoslovakia. The teacup carries the history of Hampl’s mother. It is a
witness to the event that took place during the Second World War. Therefore, it
is a detail, a small uncharted finger from the mid-century before.
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