Orange Scented Pine-Sol

Paper Summary:

The writer of this paper associates the clean smell of Pine-Sol to her mother's frequent visits and their somewhat tumultuous relationship. This writer of this creative essay discusses the apparent dependence of the traditional mother on her daughter, an independent and accomplished young woman striving to become a doctor. The writer details her mother's unannounced visits to clean and cook for the daughter who she's sure is unable to get along in the real world without her help. The writer goes on to explain how the scent of Pine-Sol was and still continues to conjure up images of her relationship with her mother and how it has affected her throughout the years.

From the Paper:

"I crept out of my own room, trying not to make a sound. Somehow, even with her uninvited intrusions into my life, I felt that my mother deserved a little peace and quiet now and then. She had moved with her parents from Japan just before the second world war; not the best time to be a Japanese-American in the United States. Her father was incredibly strict, even by traditional standards of our culture, and insisted that she conform to his ideas of a traditional Japanese female, presenting a perfect facade to counter the crippling insecurities of being an immigrant in a strange culture, viewed as a potential enemy. She carried these ideas of perfection-in presentation, at least-into her instructions to me, her only daughter, and remained aghast at what she perceived were the flaws that I was not eager to hide: wearing jeans in public, listening to popular rock music, having sloppy handwriting, not cooking each meal for myself."

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