Mama Day

Mama Day is highly concerned with the ritualistic behavior of its characters, as well as the myriad ways in which that behavior manifests. Miranda, for example, trusts in her rituals of the “other place,” whereas Dr. Buzzard has his own set of “hoodoo” rituals exemplified, for instance, during his card game with George. However, the novel makes it a point that a “ritual” need not be of the sort of supernatural, arcane variety demonstrated by characters like Sapphira Wade, Miranda, and Ruby. Naylor shows that even the rational-to-a-fault character, George, has his own brand of rituals. In fact, Cocoa criticizes him for this when she says “It was more than a routine; you operated by rituals. A place for everything and everything in its place” (244). The novel often juxtaposes the mythical rituals of Willow Springs with George’s supposedly more rational, logical rituals of his own to show their differences.

While the novel does not present one set of rituals as better than another, it does suggest the dangers of clinging to one’s rituals and remaining closed off to others. George’s failure to adapt to and therefore survive Willow Springs is a result of his inability to reconsider his own rituals, which apply well to the fast-paced, present-focused