In a world in which abortion is considered either a woman's right or a sin against God, the poem "The Mother" by Gwendolyn Brooks gives a voice to a mother lamenting her aborted children through three stanzas in which a warning is given to mothers, an admission of guilt is made, and an apology to the dead is given. The poet-speaker, the mother, as part of her memory addresses the children that she "got that [she] did not get" (2). The shift in voice from stanza to stanza allows Brooks to capture the grief associated with an abortion by not condemning her actions, nor excusing them; she merely grieves for what might have been. The narrator's longing and regret over the children she will never have is highlighted by the change in tone throughout the poem.
A quick overview of "The Mother" indicates three stanzas, each of which has a different length than the other two and each stanza is of an alternate rhyme scheme. The first stanza is comprised of ten lines of five rhymed couplets. The audience is addressed in this stanza, listing all of the things a mother will never experience with the children she has aborted, "Abortions will not let you forget [
] You will never neglect or beat / Them, or silence or buy with a sweet" (1, 5-6). The rhyming in the first stanza is reminiscent of children's poems, which is appropriate considering the poem is directed toward the speaker's dead children. Although most of the poem rhymes, there are places where Brooks deviates from the poem's rhythm which is interrupted due to sudden statements, "Since anyhow you are dead. / Or rather, or instead, / You were never made" (24-26). This causes readers to pause and question why such statements are made. It shows the narrator's thought process;...
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... "Sweets" who are dead (third stanza). The powerful shifts in tone, diction, and imagery all serve to highlight the narrator's longing to for children that were never born. By addressing the children directly, the mother is able to bring the dead back to life; it is clear that although the narrator cares deeply for her children, because of her actions, the only thing she can do is reminisce of what might have been. Speaking from experience, repenting for earlier decisions, and suffering because of them, the poet-speaker is able to share her suffering with others and begin a healing process for herself.
Works Cited
Brooks, Gwendolyn. "The Mother." Understanding Literature. Ed. Walter Kalaidjian, Judith Roof, Stephen Watt. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2004. 990-991.
Stanford, Ann Folwell. "The Mother." Literature, Arts, and Medicine Database (1987): 1.
Women are equated with water and the greatness that it possesses. In both poems Hughes displays African-American’s view of women and how they the key to maintaining a family. R. Baxter Miller states “her symbolic yet invisible presence pervades the fertility of the earth, the waters and the rebirth of the morning.” (35) Women are like rivers, they continue to flow, even when they cannot be seen. In Mother to Son the speaker reminisces on what his mother told him, which shows how powerful a woman really is. Water is also a very powerful source and contributes to everything. Just like water women contribute to life and the upbringing of children. The Negro Speaks of Rivers states “My soul has grown deep like the rivers” ( Norton Line 4, 2027.) In that one line Hughes demonstrates the likeness between women and water. Females contribute to the strengthening of one’s soul. Water is used as simile to compare the depth of the water, to the human soul.
Susan Griffin's "Our Secret" is a study in psychology. It is a look into the human mind to see what makes people do the things they do and in particular what makes people commit acts of violence. She isolates the first half of the twentieth century and in particular the era of the Second World War as a basis for her study. The essay discusses a number of people but they all tie in to Heinrich Himmler. He is the extreme case, he who can be linked directly to every single death in the concentration camps. Griffin seeks to examine Himmler because if she can discern a monster like Himmler than everyone else simply falls into place. The essay also tries to deduce why something like the Holocaust, although never mentioned directly, can take place. How can so many people be involved and yet so few people try to end it.
In Francis Ellen Watkins Harper's poem "The Slave Mother, A Tale of Ohio," she uses a shifting tone as well as other specific literary techniques to convey the heartbreaking story of a slave woman being separated from her child. This story specifically draws light to the horrific reality that many slaves faced: families were torn apart. Because this poem tells the story of a mother and her son, it also draws light to the love that mothers have for their children and the despair that they would go through if anything were to ever happen to them. Harper's poem addresses both race and gender, and it effectively conveys the heartbreak of the mother to the audience.
“The Mother” (Gwendolyn Brooks) has three stanza has and aabbccdd etc. rhyming scheme that is called couplets. The first stanza The first stanza started of “abortions will not let you forget” (Gwendolyn Brooks) this is a strong statement that supported the theme of this poem. Then Brooks go on and telling how the mother did not get to hold the child that she aborted and how sad it was for her.
Similarly to the way people hold expectations for the daystar, or sun, to rise every day, mothers are expected to perform their duties like cleaning the house or taking care of the children. Both are taken advantage of and are not fully appreciated until they stop performing their duties. Throughout the poem, the woman’s daughter and husband are given names, “Liza” (line 12) and “Thomas” (line 17) respectively, but not her. The woman is only referred to as “she” or “her” which further highlights the lack of acknowledgement she receives. The mother is taken for granted by her family and is not regarded as important. Her efforts are ignored and she is never thanked for completing her tasks around the house because that is the role she is “supposed” to fulfill.
Although the little girl doesn’t listen to the mother the first time she eventually listens in the end. For example, in stanzas 1-4, the little girl asks if she can go to the Freedom March not once, but twice even after her mother had already denied her the first time. These stanzas show how the daughter is a little disobedient at first, but then is able to respect her mother’s wishes. In stanzas 5 and 6, as the little girl is getting ready the mother is happy and smiling because she knows that her little girl is going to be safe, or so she thinks. By these stanzas the reader is able to tell how happy the mother was because she thought her daughter would be safe by listening to her and not going to the March. The last two stanzas, 7 and 8, show that the mother senses something is wrong, she runs to the church to find nothing, but her daughter’s shoe. At this moment she realizes that her baby is gone. These stanzas symbolize that even though her daughter listened to her she still wasn’t safe and is now dead. The Shoe symbolizes the loss the mother is going through and her loss of hope as well. This poem shows how elastic the bond between the daughter and her mother is because the daughter respected her mother’s wish by not going to the March and although the daughter is now dead her mother will always have her in her heart. By her having her
Jamaica Kincaid, Maxine Hong Kingston, Kiana Davenport utilize the methods of fiction and non-fiction to represent influential relationships such as the mother and daughter. In each of these texts, the writers present their perspective and knowledge, varying by culture and context. From each writer, the expression that individuality and lessons learned from mothers are essential for the development for a woman's identity. But most importantly, these writers evoke that it is beneficial to discover femininity and strength by going beyond tradition and the norm.
She was merely teaching her son a lesson, or maybe she was scolding him, and using that as a life lesson. Either way, she was the inspiration for the poem. I was unable to locate online the reason that the poem was initially written - however, I can only assume that he is remembering a time when his mother was right, and he’s wishing he had listened. Maybe he is now older, wiser, and faced with a decision where he wants two things equally, and needs to make a decision.
Liscio, Lorraine. “Beloved’s Narrative: Writing Mother’s Milk.” Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature, Vol.11, No.1 (Spring, 1992): 31-46. JSTOR. Web. 27. Oct. 2015.
..., a loss that everyone can either sympathize or empathize. However, instead of focusing on the pain and heartbreak of not having a mother, the narrator instead takes strength in the fact that her mother is connected to nature. Although her mother is not physically in her life, her body has, instead, been buried in the ground like a seed. This brings the narrator solace because at least her mother’s essence will always be present as long as there are trees, grass, and animals.
“‘Night Mother”, by Marsha Norman, is a play that dives into the struggles of a mother and daughter. First performed in 1983, the play became a major success both in Broadway, which won the Pulitzer Prize for drama, and was first performed as a play. (Spencer, pg. 1) Jessie is a middle aged woman, who is divorced, moved back in with her mother, and struggles with, what she believes, is a failed life. Thelma, Jessie’s mother, realizes that Jessie wants to commit suicide due to comments that Jessie makes. Thelma tries desperately to convince her daughter out of committing suicide; however, she is unable to convince Jessie. Jessie believes that has not reached the potential that her family wanted her to be; therefore, making her a failure in her marriage, her relationship with her son, and for her entire life. After Jessie and Thelma talk about funeral arrangements, Jessie leaves to commit suicide. The play finishes with Jessie saying, “’Night Mother.” and a shot fired, while Thelma realizes that there was nothing she could do. (Norman, pg. 18) The script of the play is very precise in how the actors are supposed to act, what the setting is supposed to look at, the tone that the actors must have when playing the role of Jessie and Thelma, the atmosphere, and the mood that the play is supposed to have.
The mother in the story a nameless figure with very little description and almost no voice what so ever. She is a bitter reminder of how society views some woman. They are seen as a permanent stature of a home but not necessarily a figure in society. The kids both very loud and annoying portray a selfish, rude, an almost ignorant way of society such as Jo...
A. “Reading Little Women.” Temple University Press (1984): 151-65. Rpt in Novels for Students. Ed. Elizabeth Thomason.
" its hard not to feel some sadness or even a feeling of injustice. All the incidents that I mentioned in the previous paragraph are among the many vivid images in this work. Brooks obviously either had experience with abortions or she felt very strongly about the issue. The feelings of sadness, remorse, longing, and unfulfilled destinies were arranged so that even someone with no experience or opinion on this issue, really felt strong emotions when reading "The Mother". One image that is so vivid that it stayed with me through the entire poem was within the third line.
In her essay "'Oh She's A Nice Lady!'": A Rereading of "A Mother" Jane E. Miller addresses the issue of judgment in the story.