Blog Post #3 Little Cog-Burt// Cotton Candy

Analysis of Little Cog-Burt and Cotton Candy 
"Little Cog-Burt", by Phyllis Shand Allfrey, and "Cotton Candy", by Dora Allonso, on the surface appear very different. Some of the few immediate similarities one can see are the they're both about Caribbean people, they include mothers, and they're written by Caribbean women. To make other connections, the reader must look deeper into the context and what the authors are trying to get across. 

Phyllis Shand Allfrey

Dora Allonso 

In both stories, readers meet a person who is seen as repugnant.  These would be Little Cog-burt and Lola. Lola is seen as lesser and untouchable because her mother kept her away from men and made her be a spinster. She never marries and becomes a sex-crazed old virgin. Cog-burt, we learn, is sick. Moira spends seemingly half the story talking about how gross he is and how she never would want to touch him or be near him. She knows his sickness is due to worms according to his mom, "Oh, he suffer from worms...", (p. 8) which is admittedly super gross, and rather than take pity on the boy she chose to look down on him and criticize his mother for not doing better with him. 
Mothers also play a big role in both stories. In "Cotton Candy", the entire reason that Lola becomes this mind-warped sex obsessor is because her mother denies her any physical or emotional contact with a man for her entire life. Even after her mother is gone she mentions being uncomfortable. "Lola, followed by the furious ghost of a mother, wanted to flee..." (p. 16) The mother had implanted her harsh ideas into her daughters head so strongly that she couldn't even watch animals having sex without feeling her dead mother's disapproving thoughts. On the other hand, in "Little Cog-Burt", we meet a mother who has lost her children when they move away and go to boarding school. This has turned her cruel and angsty, so she doesn't want to throw a party for other people's children since she won't have hers near for the holiday season. It also adds to the reasons that she can't stand Little Cog-burt. Her disdain is also with the way he's being raised, not just the fact that he exists. She shames the mother for his behavior and his appearance. Both mothers have strict and demanding personalities that affect those around them in a negative way. 
The authors of these books wanted to display the way that motherhood and high demand-parenting can affect the people around us. It doesn't do anyone any good to be rude or condemning. They also highlight the working class people of their country in very different ways.