Sacred Communion Recovering Self in the Environment, History, and Community in Gloria Naylor’s Mama Day

Abstract

Gloria Naylor is well known for her use of literary allusion to create powerful representations of African-American history and culture in her novels. Her novel Mama Day is no exception. Mama Day centers on the women of the Day family. The head of the family is Miranda or Mama Day, a feisty old woman who uses her vast knowledge of conjure (a mixture of spiritual and herbal magic) and mother wit to guide the island community of Willow Springs. When Miranda’s grandniece Ophelia, also known by her pet names Baby Girl and Cocoa, brings her New Yorker husband George home to meet her grandmother Abigail and Mama Day, the wrath of a jealous woman endangers them all. Miranda must draw upon her powers and her connections to the earth, the ancestors, and the community to save Ophelia and guide her into peace with her identity.