Respect in Gorilla, My Love

Respect in “Gorilla, My Love”
The short story, “Gorilla, My Love,” was written by Toni Cade Bambara. Hazel comes across a few instances where she feels as if she doesn’t get treated the same as adults do simply because she is only a child. She was disappointed by her uncle, Hunca Bubba or Jefferson Winston Vale, whose marriage proposal she took seriously only to find out when she was older that he was just teasing her. Hazel wanted to be able to take adults’ word for what they say. The adults that she has encountered show a lack of respect towards her. Although Hazel might act like she is an adult, she is still a little girl and has not yet developed mentally. Bambara’s “Gorilla, My Love” portrays how children don’t get respected enough by adults because they are immature.

Children grow up believing what adults tell them, then grow up to find out that they were being made fun of. Hazel says to Hunca Bubba, “[Y]ou said you were going to marry me when I grew up.” Knowing how kids are at a young age they’ll take the adults word and make sure that they comply with it. “Well for crying out loud, Hazel, you just a little girl. And I was just teasin,” he replies. Adults feel comfortable teasing children because often children don’t understand or cannot stand up for themselves. Most of the time, adults take advantage of that because children don’t understand what is going on.

Children need adults to follow through on what they say they will do. When adults promise children something, they expect them to deliver on that promise. “Just like when you say you goin to give me party on my birthday, you gotta mean it.”, Hazel declares. Her communication skills reveal that she needs her parents and other adults to pursue their promises. “[C]ause if you say Gorilla, My Love you supposed to mean it.” In the story, Hazel went to watch the movie thinking it was going to be about gorillas but she perceived wrong. The uncertainty causes children to not want to trust what they hear or see.

Children do not get treated with respect. Adults act as if children are younger they can treat them however they want. Hazel states, “Grownups figure they can treat you just anyhow.” When children get treated with no
respect by the adults then the children won’t give respect to the adults. Children are juveniles and don’t have many rights of their own. “And now I’m really furious cause I get so tired grownups messin over kids cause they little and can’t take em to court,” says Hazel. This disrespect from adults is a great source of frustration for Hazel.

Hazel is an adolescent. Hazel, Big Brood and baby Jason went to the movies to watch, Gorilla, My Love, thinking it would be about gorillas. As they sat in the movie theater, they found out that it wasn’t about gorillas. It was about Jesus. Hazel goes into the manager’s office to complain. “And I hear him sigh like he disgusted when he get to the door and see only a little kid there,” Hazel expresses. When children are little, sometimes it’s difficult to pronounce someone’s name or the name of a place. Hazel explains, “[H]e’d been my Hunca Bubba my whole lifetime, since I couldn’t manage Uncle to save my life.” Even though she still spoke like a little girl, her opinions still should matter.

In “Gorilla, My Love”, it is proven that children do not get respect from adults. Hazel is disrespected by adults that she has interacted with and it makes her feel betrayed. Adults should be more honest with children and children should not grow up based on a lie. Adults’ careless words can make a child feel disrespected. Hunca Bubba’s teasing and the movie manager’s dismissal of her complaints were situations in Hazel’s childhood that carried through to adulthood. Children deserve respect from adults as well and their feelings should be taken into account.