Suffocating Love in Secrets, Lies and BelovedEvery person in today's society has a different definition of love. One's idea of ​​love is determined by one's experiences, emotions and influences. This definition is meditated on and revised an infinite number of times throughout life. The meaning changes as one experiences different love-based relationships: parent-child, priest-parish priest, teacher-student, pet owner. These relationships alter perspectives on the meaning of love. Often, an experience causes a person to define love incorrectly or unhealthyly; however, my experiences have led me to have a healthy and positive definition of love. Since each relationship is characterized by a different type of love, each person has different definitions for this emotion. Mother-daughter love has shaped my life greatly. In my experience as a daughter and also by observing relationships in society, I have learned that the main role of a parent is to protect and educate their child to prepare them for the world they will enter as an adult. This need to protect and guide a child is encapsulated in the definition of mother-daughter love. I define love as unconditional concern for a daughter, characterized by the desire to guide her and protect her from unhappiness and pain, leaving her room to make her own decisions and mistakes. This love is unconditional because no matter how her daughter acts, feels or lives, a mother provides support and compassion for her daughter. For this love to be healthy, the mother's need to protect her child must be balanced with the knowledge that her daughter needs space to make her own decisions and mistakes. This is what separates...... middle of paper...... with possessive love, many mothers are guilty of depriving their daughters of a sense of self and the ability to make their own decisions and mistakes. This control and lack of space can negatively affect a child with effects that can manifest as early as childhood or well into adulthood. However, this unhealthy love seems to pass from mother to daughter causing a disastrous domino effect if not stopped. All mothers are given a gift. It is unfortunate that some do not give this gift ample room to grow and develop in a way that satisfies both daughter and mother. Works Cited Morrison, Toni. Beloved. New York: Plume Printing, 1987. Secrets and Lies. Dir. Mike Leigh. Perf. Brenda Blethyn and Marianne Jean-Baptiste. Simon Channing-Williams, 1997