Anita Diamant's Novel - the Red Tent

In Anita Diamant's novel, The Red Tent, we see the effects of Dinah's relationship with her mother Leah and her aunts Rachel, Bilhah, and Zilpah. Through each of these women Dinah learned a different trait which influenced her throughout the rest of her life. These are described to us when Diamant says, "Leah gave me birth and her splendid arrogance. Rachel showed me where to place the midwife's bricks and how to fix my hair. Zilpah made me think. Bilhah listened" (20). Not only does this give the skills that Dinah acquired from the each of the woman, but it also shows how important and influential each of them were to her in their own special ways. This is evident since the author gives each of the women their own sentence rather then listing them off all at once. Dinah's mothers cherished having a daughter to teach these skills to. This is evident when the author states, "But the other reason women wanted daughter was to keep their memories alive. Sons did not hear their mothers stories after weaning" (3). Having a daughter around was a huge gift to the women because they could finally share all of their knowledge that they hoped to pass on from generation to generation. By bringing up their son's inability to hear the stories it is made clear that only daughters are capable of knowing and understanding what the woman go through.