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An American Marriage


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Do you feel that Celestial and Andre will be better at parenting than Celestial and Roy would have been? If so, why?

Created: 04/09/19

Replies: 8

Posted Apr. 09, 2019 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
davinamw

Join Date: 10/15/10

Posts: 3444

Do you feel that Celestial and Andre will be better at parenting than Celestial and Roy would have been? If so, why?

Why do you think Celestial and Andre decide against formally marrying? Do you think that as a couple they will be good and nurturing parents? Do you feel that as a couple, they will be better at parenting than Celestial and Roy would have been? If so, why? 


Posted Apr. 14, 2019 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
peggyt

Join Date: 08/10/17

Posts: 215

RE: Do you feel that Celestial and Andre will be better at parenting than Celestial and Roy would have been? If so, why?

This is hard to say, Roy always wanted a baby but it seemed more like he just wanted a carbon copy of himself. Andre, not having a dad at home might work harder to be a good dad. Not sure about Celestial, she is a bit of a mystery to me.


Posted Apr. 14, 2019 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
melanieb

Join Date: 08/30/14

Posts: 265

RE: Do you feel that Celestial and Andre will be better at parenting than Celestial and Roy would have been? If so, why?

Yes, Celestial and Andre will be better at parenting because they have had more years to grow a vision of raising their child. Roy would have raised his child in a way that was familiar to him and this would have been at odds with what Celestial wanted. I think that’s one reason why she didn’t get pregnant while with Roy.


Posted Apr. 15, 2019 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Marcia S

Join Date: 02/08/16

Posts: 505

RE: Do you feel that Celestial and Andre will be better at parenting than Celestial and Roy would have been? If so, why?

Who can say who will be a better parent? One would assume Celestial and Andre because they are more mature at the end of the novel and have a good relationship. However, if Roy hadn't gone to prison and their baby hadn't been aborted, he may have been a wonderful father. Big Roy was a good father and one would like to think that Roy would have fathered in a similar manner that he had been raised.


Posted Apr. 15, 2019 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
SusanC.

Join Date: 03/25/13

Posts: 46

RE: Do you feel that Celestial and Andre will be better at parenting than Celestial and Roy would have been? If so, why?

I don't think Celestial is capable of giving too much of herself. I think she is a classic narcissist (probably why I didn't like her character). Andre will be a great parent. Roy would have been a great father too btw.


Posted Apr. 15, 2019 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Auntie Mame

Join Date: 04/21/11

Posts: 31

RE: Do you feel that Celestial and Andre will be better at parenting than Celestial and Roy would have been? If so, why?

Very hard to say, I think Roy would have made a very good father. He had an excellent role model in Big Roy. Overall I found Roy to be a very sympathetic character. I think he had a strong moral code. I question Celestial's ability as a mother more than the men. I did not particularly like her. She seemed somewhat immature to me.


Posted Apr. 18, 2019 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
susiej

Join Date: 10/15/14

Posts: 363

RE: Do you feel that Celestial and Andre will be better at parenting than Celestial and Roy would have been? If so, why?

Celestial is the key to answering this question, and I don't believe she is capable of giving the loving attention to a child that is required to be a good parent. In the end - either Andre or Roy could/would be a fine father. Both prove, in differing ways, that they are able to sacrifice and nurture - in general put another ahead of themselves. Celestial, though strong and certain of herself in a professional sense, is not able to function alone and needs a support system in her private life. She does not seem able to function on her own; she does not appear to be as open, as accepting, as giving - able to love unconditionally - as both men, and for this reason it is hard to say which couple would have best for a child.


Posted Apr. 20, 2019 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
nancyn

Join Date: 05/12/16

Posts: 27

RE: Do you feel that Celestial and Andre will be better at parenting than Celestial and Roy would have been? If so, why?

I had guessed that at the end it would be Celestial and Andre and that Roy and Divina would marry, but this was the surprise to me. Celestial had twice chosen not to have a baby and I felt she was too self-centered and absorbed in her career to be a caring mother. It was Roy who always wanted a child and had a wonderful mentor in parenting from Big Roy. When Tamar came to their home, Roy asked to hold her baby. "It was amazing to think that here, in my arms, was an entire human being." I am sorry that Roy never had the opportunity to hold his own.


Posted May. 16, 2019 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
lilliantpr

Join Date: 01/23/12

Posts: 42

RE: Do you feel that Celestial and Andre will be better at parenting than Celestial and Roy would have been? If so, why?

Well, it’s clear that Celestial does not want to marry again. Maybe she wants to be with a man that she loves, but at the same time, be independent as she always was. Maybe she fears that she can’t be a true wife. Andre respects her decision, but if it were for him, they would have immediately gotten married. Maybe eventually, they will get married when she has her baby. Motherhood definitely changes a woman and makes her more susceptible. I think they will be great parents, Andre having experience of what it feels like to be fatherless and Celestial being a daddy’s girl and well loved.
In answering if they would be better at parenting than Celestial and Roy would have been, it’s hard to say. But I can say that Big Roy and Olive raised Roy with a lot of tender, loving care. He always wanted a child, and that demonstrates that he really saw the importance of starting a family. But I did feel that Celestial was kind of reluctant in having a baby with Roy, so being that she was not ready for motherhood, she was right in not having one with Roy. They would have to first get things right in their marriage and then plan to have a baby.


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