In 'The Mother' by Gwendolyn Brooks, the complexities of motherhood are explored. Exploring the emotional adventure of a girl who has experienced more than one abortion, exposes the complicated layers of emotion and experience that accompany it. Through bright imagery and profound reflection, the author demands traditional ideas of motherhood, inviting readers to confront the raw and often painful realities confronted by women who've gone through such procedures, instead of offering a clean solution or moral judgment, the author challenges us to confront the messy, uncomfortable truths that creep beneath the surface of societal expectations. The author explores the complicated emotions of a woman who has had multiple abortions. The speaker of the poem is struggling with the …show more content…
The establishing themes of the poem set the tone for this exploration: "Abortions will not let you forget. You remember the children you got that you did not get." (5) These phrases bring a weight of sorrow and regret, capturing images of the endless existence of the unknown within the speaker's existence. Throughout the poem, the author uses powerful and provocative imagery to deliver the speaker's emotional state. She describes the aborted kids as "ghosts," emphasizing their spectral lifestyles inside the speaker's mind. This haunting imagery serves as an effective metaphor for the long-lasting effects of abortions. The use of the word "ghosts" additionally highlights the experience of loss and lack that permeates the speaker's lifestyles, as she wrestles with the void left through her unborn kids. Despite the heaviness of the difficulty, Brooks infuses the poem with an experience of strength and defiance. The speaker refuses to be described entirely through her actions, declaring her enterprise and reclaiming her title. She declares, "Believe me, I love you
Gwendolyn Brooks is a famous, African American poetess who is famous for making a social commentary upon the urban society in which she lives. Clearly seen in three of her more popular poems, “the mother”, “a song in the front yard”, and “What shall I give my children? Who are poor?”, Brooks uses the struggles of impoverished motherhood to comment on the stymied lives of adult black women. This is obviously evident in her use of the tone of hopelessness, which transcends all three poems in differing
Gwendolyn Brooks’ life was characterized by her struggles with race, struggles faced after aborting, and accomplishments with her career. Her issues were reflected in “The Mother,” one of the poems she wrote and that she was underestimated for. In this poem Brooks used the imagery of death, personification of an abortion, and imagery of an unborn baby to prove to people that women have the option to abort, yet it is regretted. Many critics do not believe the poem to be acceptable and their analyses
poem, “The Mother” by Gwendolyn Brooks has a very powerful context regarding abortion. Abortion is very common throughout the United States, so Brooks poem is still very relatable till this day. The Concept and result of abortion is a very difficult for almost all mothers who have the dreadful experience of abortion; but there are a few parents who can still adjust easily. Gwendolyn Brooks poem gives us very insightful point of views. She gives us her point of view as well as other mothers who are not
Gwendolyn Brooks’s poems “We Real Cool” and “Mother” show that Gwendolyn Brooks writes about the world she lives in and what she experiences not in her own life, but in the lives of the people she sees around her. Moving around from school to school as a kid, Brooks was given a rounded perspective on the racial dynamics of the real world, which she shows in some of her work.Gwendolyn Brooks captures the life experiences and events of black lives. Brooks consistently focuses on the struggle of black
poem, “The Mother” by Gwendolyn Brooks is about a mother who aborted her child. The theme of this poem is guilt and blame. The speaker feels a ton of guilt about her abortions and even fantasizes about her children that never were. Gwendolyn Brooks’, “The Mother” uses the literary devices of tone, repetition, and symbolism to display the theme of her poem. Gwendolyn Brooks uses the tone of her poem in order to help the reader understand the poem’s theme better. The tone of “The Mother” is extremely
Brooks’ “The Mother” focuses on the burden a mother goes through when having an abortion and giving recognition to the unborn child. Gwendolyn Brooks achieves this by primarily using underlying emotions and providing imagery of what the aborted baby could have been like as the speaker’s child. The narrative voice of “The Mother” uses different point of views throughout the poem and the word choice, both of which are used to portray the burden of guilt of having the operation. The speaker starts
When others recall personal experiences relating to this issue, "The Mother" by Gwendolyn Brooks touches up on the emotional topic of abortion. Accepting abortion and the consequence of it can be difficult for some people, while others are accustomed to it without it being a problem. Brooks allow us to see from a mothers view of abortion and show a mother's reaction to this type of situation. It brings forth a political debate topic, but cannot really be used to divide for a pro and against side
Throughout the course of the semester I will be reading and analyzing the poem “The Mother” by Gwendolyn Brooks. This poem sheds light to the conflicts, emotions and decisions that a woman experiences when deciding to have an abortion. There are many feelings portrayed in this poem such as guilt and confusion. Among the many ways a New Critic could analyze this text to explain its meaning, the two most important ideas shown in this poem are the tension between body and soul, as well as the contradiction
Gwendolyn Brooks poem “The Mother,” centers on a mother perceived guilty by many, for having several abortions. The poem illustrates a woman who agonized over the choice she was forced into making. The woman ultimately regretted her decision to getting an abortion. She wanted to spare other women from making the same mistake she made. Brooks did not want them to agonize over their decisions later on in life. The author displays metaphor, repetition, and imagery that allowed the audience over time
“The Mother” by Gwendolyn Brooks is a moving poem that centers around the realities of having an abortion. If read closely, it can be understood in a many ways. A Marxist critic, for example, would see it as a mother who chose to have an abortion after the realization that she is not of a class or financial situation to have a child. A psychoanalyst, on the other hand, might see a woman who is using defence mechanisms to rationalize her choice. Two new ways to analyze this poem are through the theories
“the mother” was written by Gwendolyn Brooks in 1945 who was born in topeka Kansas on June 7, 1917. “the mother” was published in her 1945 collection “A Street in Bronzeville”, in 1950 Brooks became the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize.(bio) “the mother” is a great description of a mother going through a time of remembering her wrongs and pondering on what could have been. The poem “the mother” is a anti-abortion poem, it is a emotional outpour of the sense of guilt by a mother who has
matter why they make this choice one can probably agree that it has to be emotional for them. In her poem “The Mother,” Gwendolyn Brooks writes in free verse so the reader is able to notice the speaker’s emotions change. Her rhyming patterns show that she cares for, mourns for, and desires for her aborted children. The first stanza begins with "Abortions will not let you forget,"(Brooks 1). Which shows how much the speaker still cares for her unborn children. She talks about future experiences that
Gwendolyn Brooks was an African American poet, who came to national prominence in 1940’s to 1990’s. She was appointed Poet Laureate of Illinois in 1968 and Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1985. Throughout her lifetime Gwendolyn Brooks faced many trials and tribulations. Brooks had a real talent in her ability to express reflective human emotions in such logical expressions. Truthfully, She creates a horrific imagery that abortions are terrible; and in the poem “The
love in a much alternative course. This can be highlighted in a poem by Gwendolyn Brooks called “the mother”. She relates the idea of abortion to the reader in passionate expression of her regret, and allows the reader to glimpse her experience with motherhood and the fierce love she feels toward her unborn. Abortion is met as an unspeakable and selfish act, but this author shows the truth that lies under the word itself. Brooks’ story accounts her reflection on her decision to have abortions as acts
of the person involved. In the poem “The Mother” the author, Gwendolyn Brooks, shows what a mother who has