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Anne Moody (Essie Mae)
Mama is Anne’s mother. Mama is defined by her unwavering commitment to support her family. Throughout the memoir, she works various low-paying jobs, often at the expense of her own health. Before she meets her husband and Anne’s stepfather, Raymond, Mama is determined to support her family without the support of Anne’s father, who left the family. This determination shows Anne a model of an independent woman. Though she has a vibrant side, often singing around the house, a life of hard labor, racism, and poverty brings Mama down over the years. During the bulk of Anne’s childhood, Mama often swings into inconsolable depressions due to stress over caring for her family. When Anne begins to learn more about the racism in the world around her, Mama refuses to talk with her about it, believing that she is protecting Anne by keeping her in the dark. Mama is also devoted to her church, a topic that she clashes with Anne about. During Anne’s years working as an activist, Mama urges her to quit for fear of her safety. As a result of their disagreements over Anne’s involvement with the civil rights movement, Mama and Anne become largely estranged.
Mama (Toosweet) Quotes in Coming of Age in Mississippi
The Coming of Age in Mississippi quotes below are all either spoken by Mama (Toosweet) or refer to Mama (Toosweet). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
I’m still haunted by dreams of the time we lived on Mr. Carter’s plantation. Lots of Negroes lived on his place. Like Mama and Daddy they were all farmers. We all lived in rotten two-room shacks. But ours stood out from the others because it was up on the hill with Mr. Carter’s big white house, overlooking the farms and the other shacks below.
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Chapter 2
Quotes
“If Mama only had a kitchen like this of her own,” I thought, “she would cook better food for us.”
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Every time I tried to talk to Mama about white people she got mad. Now I was more confused than before. If it wasn’t the straight hair and the white skin that made you white, then what was it?
Chapter 4
Quotes
I wanted to enjoy and preserve that calm, peaceful look on [Mama’s] face, I wanted to think she would always be that happy, so I would never be unhappy again either…. All those dreams about eternal happiness I wanted for Mama, I knew deep down in my heart that it wouldn’t last.
Chapter 5
Quotes
I looked over at Miss Pearl them again and saw tears in the corner of Miss Pearl’s eyes. “She should cry,” I thought. “She shouldn’t even be in church and she doesn’t even speak to Mama and she lives right next door to her.”
Chapter 9
Quotes
A Negro man had a hard road to travel when looking for employment. A Negro woman, however, could always go out and earn a dollar a day because whites always needed a cook, a baby-sitter, or someone to do housecleaning.
Chapter 10
Quotes
“Just do your work like you don’t know nothing,” she said. “That boy’s a lot better off in heaven than he is here.”
Chapter 27
Quotes
I couldn’t understand why I seemed so strange to everyone. […] All of a sudden, I found myself wishing I was in Canton again working in the Movement with people who understood me.
Get the entire Coming of Age in Mississippi LitChart as a printable PDF.
Mama (Toosweet) Quotes in Coming of Age in Mississippi
The Coming of Age in Mississippi quotes below are all either spoken by Mama (Toosweet) or refer to Mama (Toosweet). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
I’m still haunted by dreams of the time we lived on Mr. Carter’s plantation. Lots of Negroes lived on his place. Like Mama and Daddy they were all farmers. We all lived in rotten two-room shacks. But ours stood out from the others because it was up on the hill with Mr. Carter’s big white house, overlooking the farms and the other shacks below.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 2
Quotes
“If Mama only had a kitchen like this of her own,” I thought, “she would cook better food for us.”
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Every time I tried to talk to Mama about white people she got mad. Now I was more confused than before. If it wasn’t the straight hair and the white skin that made you white, then what was it?
Chapter 4
Quotes
I wanted to enjoy and preserve that calm, peaceful look on [Mama’s] face, I wanted to think she would always be that happy, so I would never be unhappy again either…. All those dreams about eternal happiness I wanted for Mama, I knew deep down in my heart that it wouldn’t last.
Chapter 5
Quotes
I looked over at Miss Pearl them again and saw tears in the corner of Miss Pearl’s eyes. “She should cry,” I thought. “She shouldn’t even be in church and she doesn’t even speak to Mama and she lives right next door to her.”
Chapter 9
Quotes
A Negro man had a hard road to travel when looking for employment. A Negro woman, however, could always go out and earn a dollar a day because whites always needed a cook, a baby-sitter, or someone to do housecleaning.
Chapter 10
Quotes
“Just do your work like you don’t know nothing,” she said. “That boy’s a lot better off in heaven than he is here.”
Chapter 27
Quotes
I couldn’t understand why I seemed so strange to everyone. […] All of a sudden, I found myself wishing I was in Canton again working in the Movement with people who understood me.
