A Frameless Life

Different kinds of frames are constantly being thrust upon us helping shape our views and beliefs before we even have a chance to decipher exactly what we are truly moving toward.  Whether it’s the kind of church we are brought to as children or the kinds of different schools that we are sent to, these things help mold us into the proper kind of human beings that is socially expectable by the public majority.  But what if we were never told right from wrong, where we came from, of even what values should be sought after.  Would we really be able to find out who we truly are?

In the novel A Question of Power, by Bessie Head, the main character Elizabeth finds herself living in a frameless world not being able to associate with a certain group because of the lack of stability in her life.  Elizabeth was the offspring of a black father and a white mother which set her apart from the rest of the kids from the start.  The white folk viewed her as a colored person but she was still not accepted by the colored group either.  Being from a mixed race it was hard for Elizabeth to relate to a culture that she could identify with.  Most frames come from the culture that your family identifies with the most.  The Irish heritage is the one that my family identifies with the most.  It is from there that my religion was born (Catholic) and even some of the meals that we share on specific holidays like corn beef and cabbage.  

Another part of Elizabeth’s frameless world came from a lack of presence of parental guidance.  Her mother was also sent to a mental hospital while Elizabeth was young helping Elizabeth become more distant from her true roots.  With her mother in a mental hospital, Elizabeth was moved into a foster home for a short period of time.  After her foster father had passed away and the foster mother no longer being able to take care of her, Elizabeth once again was forced into another change of scenery by being sent away to a mission school at the age of 13.  It was here that she would find out the truth about her mother and how she died.  Elizabeth was never able to grasp a true identity of where she came from or the thoughts and morals that usually get passed down from a child’s parents.  

One thing that I can be really grateful for is the great upbringing that my parents put me through.  They helped to teach me the ways of the world and helped prepare me for the different choices that I would be making later on in my life.  It is hard for me to imagine what my life would be like if I did not have such a wonderful childhood with parents who were able to teach me right from wrong.  To tell you the truth I probably would have never been wise enough to make all the good decisions that have put me at the place that I’m at today.