Breaking Night Character Infographic: Jean Murray (Ma)

Jean Murray (Ma)

Family

Symbol: Narcotics Anonymous Coin

Summary

I chose an NA coin to represent Jean Murray because while she was addicted to cocaine, she didn't care for her kids very well. However, after she got sick she quit using drugs and tried to do what was best for her kids. I believe the NA coins symbolizes her struggle with drug addiction and her hope for a productive life where she could provide for her children.

Jean Murray was Liz's mother. As a child, Liz loved her mother very much, even when she wasn't a good parent. But Liz and her mother started to drift apart. Liz took care of her mother when she was sick with AIDS, but didn't talk to her or spend quality time with her like she used to. When Liz left Brick's house her mother became very sick and Liz only visited her a few times in the hospital before she died. Liz was heartbroken and regretted not being there for her mother when she needed her the most. Liz regretted not being there for her mother, so she made sure she was there for her father when he was later diagnosed with AIDS. Their relationship symbolizes how people learn from their mistakes.

Social Status

Liz was born into a poor family. Her mother couldn't work and relied on welfare checks for income and her father never really had a job. Since her parents were addicted to cocaine, they spent most of their money on drugs, even if their children were starving. This meant that Lisa and Liz were often straving until Liz started to earn money for herself. parents' drug addicted lead to them being very poor and not having basic necessities. Liz loved her mother very much and did not blame her for being a bad parent, but blamed her drug addiction, which symolizes their endless love for eachother no matter what. Once Liz discovered she could earn money to buy food for her family, she realized that there was more things in life that she could change than she thought. This set off Liz's goal to dig herself out of the hole she was born into.

Ma's dream for Liz was that she wouldn't drop out of school like she did when she was younger Although her mother's drug addiction set Liz off to a bad start to reach this goal, her mother tried to turn things around by moving in with Brick in a better neighborhood. Liz's mother finally expressed her dream to Liz when she asked Liz to stay in school when she enrolled her in the new school. Liz didn't follow her mothers request and started skipping school until she dropped out and became homeless. Eventually after her mother died, her mother's dream of Liz completeing became Liz's dream as well and much more. Not only did Liz graduate highschool, but she did it in two years with an A average and even got accepted into Harvard University.

Dreams

Jean Murray's addiction to drugs made life very difficult for Liz when she was growing up, as the money the family had was always spent on drugs rather than necessities such as food. Jean's battle with AIDS later on in the book happened simultaneuosly as her and Liz drifted apart. After Jean died, Liz fully regretted not being there for her mother when she needed her the most which led her to not make the same mistake with her father when he was also diagnosed with AIDS.

Relationship With Another Character

One other character that Jean Murray had a strong connection to was her husband and Liz's father, Peter Finnerty. When Liz was little, her parents love for eachother was very strong and they did almost everything together. Eventually, Jean and Peter began to drift apart after Jean suspected Peter of being unfaithful to her. Soon their only time spent together was when they did drugs. Jean found a new man that she wanted to move in with because she wanted to quit doing drugs. This devastated Liz because her family was not so much of a family anymore. Peter still loved Jean and Jean offered to stay if he would quit using drugs too, but he couldn't. Liz understood why her mother needed to live somewhere else, but she decided to stay with her father instead. When Jean was diagnosed with AIDS, Peter visited her in the hospital a few times before she died and was as devastated as Liz was when she died. They both loved eachother very much even when they were seperated, but they had to go their seperate ways to get what they wanted or needed. Their relationshi is importnat because they are Liz's parents and their relationship was very important to her.

Jean Murray was reckless and didn't think or care about the consequences of her actions. Jean contracted AIDS due to her constant pricking of her body to do drugs which Liz blames herself for, for giving her mom money to buy drugs (Murray 208). When Liz was a child, Jean would go to Aqueduct's bar and often end up in dangerous situtions due to the fact that she was legally blind. Liz would beg her not to go but Jean went anytime of day without telling anyone where she was going. Even when Jean had sobered up from doing drugs she would still go to Madden's and stumble back home, drunk, by noon (Murray 329). Jean's reckless decisions to do drugs and drink alcohol put her in many dangeruious situations and even caused her to contract AIDS from doing drugs and eventually die from it.

Reckless

Jena Murray was very loving towards Liz. Even though Jean wasnt the best parent and sometimes chose drugs over feeding her daughter, Liz knew that her mother loved her. Liz didn't blame her parents for not getting food for them. Liz knew that their intention was not to hurt them. She knew that her parents didn't have it in them to sober up from drugs or be the parents that she needed them to be (Murray 95). Liz must have known that her mother loved her if she didn't blame her for not feeding her. Liz also knew that her mother loved her because she held her with such love and embrace that Liz felt she deserved to be held and loved even if everyone else was repulsed by her. She felt a sense of safety in her mother's arms and that's how she knew that sheher mother loved her (Murray 92).

Loving

Mnay times throughout the book, Jean had nobody to talk to or relate with. When Liz was younger, she would always talk to her about everything, but eventually they grew apart. She had a couple friends along the way such as Leonard and Tera, but they weren't around for long. Jean's mental health issies must have allso conributed to her loneliness. Jean and Peter eventually drifted apart too and she found a new man whp she thought listened to her (Murray 219). Although we find out later that this man was Brick who showed that he didn't really care about her. Jean must have been the most lonely when she was sick with AIDS because no one was around for her to talk to. Carlos even said that she needed to be talked to more because nobody really talked to her (Murray 331). Brick seemed not to care that Jean was sick, Lisa didn't have a strong connecion with her mother, and Liz ran away from home and left her mother behind with no one to talk to her or keep her company. Jean must have felt very lonely while she was sick and Liz must know that which is why she feels so guilty.

Lonely