GLBT Motifs

In the Mee Street Chronicles: Straight up Stories of a Black Women’s Life, a literary motif, which is a theme, symbol, or phrase that recurs in literary work, appear as the GLBT motif. The GLBT stands for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender. Throughout the book, there are several GLBT motifs that are visible, but the two that appear the most in two of the stories are the fear of being different and the sense of shame about self.

The fear of being different reoccurs in two stories, which are Roger and Pandora’s Box. In Roger, Frankie describes how she would run from things most her life. Frankie lived in Indiana for thirteen years, drank every day, and passed off as being straight. She was afraid to live her life as who she was, which was a lesbian. In Pandora’s Box, Frankie was fearful of whether or not to come out of the closet. She did not know if she would be accepted by others, which caused her to question her sexual identity, but in the end she knew that she was more attracted to women than to men.

            In Roger and Pandora’s Box the reoccurring motif is the sense of shame about self. In Roger, Frankie had to deal with the sexual attractions caught up with shame and self-hate. They were attached with sacrifices made in order to overcome the oppression of being a woman. Frankie also had to deal with the homophobia that surrounded her everyday life. In Pandora’s Box, Frankie was ashamed of what people would call her sexual identity. She had been hiding it for so long that she did not know how people would react if she decided to show her true colors. She was tired of feeling enslaved and wanted to be free, in order to be accepted for who she really was.

            Should people have to hide who they really are? Just like Frankie, many women and men live day to day scared of coming out of the closet and declaring their sexual identity. The words of Reverend Bean, “You are not a mistake. You are God’s creation, made in the image and likeness of The Creator. So, love yourself”, made Frankie realize that she was not a mistake and should not be treated as one just for being different.