On Parent-Child Relation And Child Development In Tayari Jones’s Silver Sparrow

As one of the African-American female writers of a younger generation,Tayari Jones has so far published four novels and won a great number of honors.In her third novel Silver Sparrow,Jones depicts the growth and transformation of the two heroines from innocence to maturity with a deeply insightful look into black children’s inner world and the parent-child relation in African-American families.Based on the McMaster Model of family functioning theory,this thesis dissects the effects of parent-child relation on African-American children especially African-American girls by relating to African-American history and the context of contemporary African-American women’s writing.The thesis consists of five chapters.Chapter One makes an introduction to the research background,reviews the foreign and domestic research on Tayari Jones’ s works,and presents the argument,methodology and significance of the thesis.Chapter Two gives an overview of theories relating to family functioning.Chapter Three reveals the causes of father absence in African-American community,and examines the negative effects of estranged father-daughter relationship on child development.Chapter Four explores the significant roles of black mothers and the positive effects of closed mother-daughter relationship on child development,illustrating black mothers’ compensations for the adversities.In Chapter Five,the thesis concludes that father absence and estranged father-daughter relationship can hinder the formation of children’s self-identity and lead to failed romantic relationship;while mother’s care and close mother-daughter relationship help children build self-worth and pass down virtues of black motherhood and black culture,which can compensate for the negative effects of father absence or even social problems such as racism and sexism,and help children finally achieve physical and psychological well-being.Jones’ s works convey her humanistic concern for African-American children,which has brought a new direction to African-American women’s literature.What’s more,she combines the new direction,i.e.the focus on children,with African-American women’s literary tradition in a creative way,making such a literary tradition further develop in the context of post-civil rights era.