Interesting Contrast of Familial Relationships in "Women of Brewster Place"

          So far in our readings it has been fairly simple to associate a certain family structure with different class groups.  However, "Women of Brewster Place" illustrates a much more complicated family structure which is extremely inconsistent.  These discrepancies in family values are most apparent in Mattie's story.
          Initially I sensed that Mattie's family was incredibly close and had strong values of what it means to be a family.  Her father would do anything for her, as is illustrated by stories of him buying her new fashionable shoes and his skipping work to stay at her bedside when she is sick.  An earlier scene opens on Mattie feeding the family chickens, tending to her responsibilities.  She nearly turns down going on a walk with Butch Fuller because she is so concerned with her father's opinion of the young man.  These familial bonds quickly dissolve, as Mattie chooses to go on a walk with Butch has sex with him out by the edge of the woods.  This is a youthful betrayal of her father's trust.  When Mattie gets pregnant she refuses to tell her father who is responsible for her condition and he viciously beats her.  He is stunned at his own reaction and at finding faults in his precious only child.  The family bond is ultimately weakened when Mattie leaves home with her new born child Basil.  Her father has been somewhat stripped of his role as a patriarch by the defiance of his daughter.
          There is a similar degeneration in the bond between Basil and Mattie.  Their relationship is heavily influenced by the fact the Mattie puts Basil before anything and anyone else.  As he grows older he becomes aware of her loyalty and he takes advantage of it.  She sells a house that is of great importance in order to get Basil out of jail even though he only has to remain there for two weeks.  Soon after, Basil abandons his mother.  In this dynamic Basil, the child, holds the power breaking down the traditional value of respecting elders and particularly parents.  Like her father's loss of patriarchal power, Mattie has been robbed of her authority as a mother.
           The issues within these family structures are relevant because they are largely inconsistent with those we view in other novels.  Typically members of a middle class, those who make enough for necessities and a few luxuries, have a strong family structure.  Prior to their illusions of wealth, Alek and Sally had a strong family system, as did the Laphams.  Mattie is in a comfortable financial position with her family, which thematically would lead me to believe they would have stable and consistent family values. The fact that Naylor breaks this theme down in her portrayal of the Michaels hints at the dysfunction of families when power dynamics are altered.