Despite being sisters and having the same life experiences, Sarah and Mattie have very different personalities. Do you have a sister, and are you alike?
Are you more outspoken like Mattie or quiet and reserved like Sarah?
I have three sisters, all older (each of us two years apart). Our interests and lifestyles are somewhat different, and we don't live very close to each other, but growing up under the same and each other's influences certainly has contributed to being the people we are today. I don't think I'm like my sisters in many ways, but if they weren't my sisters, I would not be who I am.
I have one sister and we're both outspoken in different moments, and quiet in others. Maybe we balance each other in that way; I think sisters do that sometimes.
I agree with you Melissa about the balance thing. My sister and I are mostly very different, but we do have some key similarities. We've both got strong opinions - she's just usually more vocal in sharing hers. I can see we are more alike than different the older we get.
I was more like a Sarah as a child, but I'm definitely a Mattie as an adult; I'm not sure exactly how that transformation took place, but it probably evolved from living through a rather dynamic time of social change . . . civil rights movement, feminist issues, protests re Vietnam, sexual revolution. The more you see and experience the more you question and the more you question, the more you become willing to assert yourself.
In writing Sweetgrass, though, I had to be careful to keep Mattie and Sarah believable but both still vulnerable. Neither one had experienced life beyond the reservation, and so their differences in personality, while somewhat innate, were based largely on their ages: Teenagers are teenagers, even in 1910, and Mattie, at 14, would have been entering a rebellious stage, while Sarah, at age 12, would have naturally been more reticent. (Yes, there was a time when 12 year-old-girls were still little girls.) Hopefully a reader will notice that Sarah does become more like her sister near the end of the book as her confidence rises. Consequently, maybe they really are more alike than different.
I have one sister. We're very different, and getting more different over time. We experienced our shared childhood very differently, too. Our memories of the same events are different. She remembers strain and anxiety where I remember joy. She remembers feeling included and happy when I felt excluded and lonely. Weird.
Personality and perspective affects experience. I love to explore this theme in stories.
I'm the louder one, without a doubt!
ReplyDeleteI have three sisters, all older (each of us two years apart). Our interests and lifestyles are somewhat different, and we don't live very close to each other, but growing up under the same and each other's influences certainly has contributed to being the people we are today. I don't think I'm like my sisters in many ways, but if they weren't my sisters, I would not be who I am.
ReplyDeleteI don't have sisters, but I have brothers. We have many similarities.
ReplyDeleteI have a Mattie in me who bursts out when I least expect!
I have one sister and we're both outspoken in different moments, and quiet in others. Maybe we balance each other in that way; I think sisters do that sometimes.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Melissa about the balance thing. My sister and I are mostly very different, but we do have some key similarities. We've both got strong opinions - she's just usually more vocal in sharing hers. I can see we are more alike than different the older we get.
ReplyDeleteI was more like a Sarah as a child, but I'm definitely a Mattie as an adult; I'm not sure exactly how that transformation took place, but it probably evolved from living through a rather dynamic time of social change . . . civil rights movement, feminist issues, protests re Vietnam, sexual revolution. The more you see and experience the more you question and the more you question, the more you become willing to assert yourself.
ReplyDeleteIn writing Sweetgrass, though, I had to be careful to keep Mattie and Sarah believable but both still vulnerable. Neither one had experienced life beyond the reservation, and so their differences in personality, while somewhat innate, were based largely on their ages: Teenagers are teenagers, even in 1910, and Mattie, at 14, would have been entering a rebellious stage, while Sarah, at age 12, would have naturally been more reticent. (Yes, there was a time when 12 year-old-girls were still little girls.) Hopefully a reader will notice that Sarah does become more like her sister near the end of the book as her confidence rises. Consequently, maybe they really are more alike than different.
My sister and i are as different as night and day. She is outgoing and gregarious I am shy and reserved.
ReplyDeleteWe get along very well though.
I love my sister. We have three brother and sister. She is very standoffish and sociable persons. I am proud of her.
ReplyDeleteI have one sister. We're very different, and getting more different over time. We experienced our shared childhood very differently, too. Our memories of the same events are different. She remembers strain and anxiety where I remember joy. She remembers feeling included and happy when I felt excluded and lonely. Weird.
ReplyDeletePersonality and perspective affects experience. I love to explore this theme in stories.
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