The Unwanted Child By Mary Clearman

The reader cannot help but feel the burden the daughter will be sharing with the mother. And while the plight of the mother is real, the reader cannot ignore how the isolation and loneliness of this type of community, or lack there of, has effected Tome's judgment in mothering.

the reader to interpret what may have happened to the mother, and how it affects the relationship

"The Mother," by Gwendolyn Brooks, is a sorrowful, distressing poem about a mother who has experienced numerous abortions. While reading the poem, you can feel the pain, heartache, distress and grief she is feeling. She is both remorseful and regretful; nevertheless, she explains that she had no other alternative. It is a sentimental and heart wrenching poem where she talks about not being able to experience or do things with the children that she aborted -- things that people who have children often take for granted. Perhaps this poem is a reflection of what many women in society are feeling.

“Whether you think you can or think you can 't, you are right” - Henry Ford. Perspective can change an entire reality for an individual. This is also prevalent in John Edgar Wideman’s “Newborn Thrown In Trash and Dies” as he uses a unique first person perspective to reveal his story. Many thoughts and ideas come to mind when this title is recited, however, this is precisely what transpires in John Edgar Wideman’s short story. In “A Newborn Thrown In Trash and Dies” a new born baby discusses the different phases of a life that could have been. Widman presents his story in the first-person point of view. Wideman expresses events as he is the narrator -a female infant, who is plummeting to her death through a garbage chute. Wideman’s use of the first person point of view enables him to describe the events in the story through his eyes, gaining the trust of the reader, to depict the social issue of child abuse and abandonment.

    Humans have come to a conclusion that all lives are different, but all go through many hardships and tragedies. The impact from a slight difference can vary to be very vast to very small, such a slight difference, however, can change a person’s life as a whole. In the book, The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore there is a difference that can be identified between the author’s life and that of the other Wes. This difference, though can be very critical and is ultimately able to lead to a path of triumph or failure for an individual. The lack of involvement a mother has for their child can fundamentally deprive them from succeeding, and parent involvement has the opportunity to

When the woman finds the baby, she acknowledges all the signs that the baby is dead but seems to create a separate reality. She becomes delusional and takes the baby in as if it was hers; feeding, bathing, and caring for it constantly. She even imagines that the house she is a mid in belongs to her, the baby, and the pool man. In the end she says "We made a pretty picture standing there. Rose, me, and him." The woman's delusional state is provoked by her inability to maintain a family. She desperately wanted a family of her own. The author constantly uses words like "my" and "mine" that show possession. The woman's way of coping with tremendous loss and suffering was creating an alternate world. Danticat adds the woman's escape from reality to portray the desperate desire of Haitians to prosper from a life of poverty.

In the “Invisible Child” written by Andrea Elliot, a lifestyle of a homeless girl named Dasani and her family is shown. Elliot displays Dasani’s culture, and some of the struggles that she and her family face daily because they are homeless. Dasani is very dedicated to her school work. She wants to be better than anyone in her family ever was so she doesn’t have to worry about being homeless for the rest of her life. In some ways I can relate to Dasani, I am very passionate about my school work as well. I want to excel so I can be my very best in the future. However, our reasoning’s for wanting to be the best we can be are a little different. She wants to excel so she no longer has to worry about being homeless whereas I’ve never been homeless so I cannot say the exact same. I grew up being a very privileged kid. Both of my parents worked full time good paying jobs. I’ve never had to want for much of anything. My parents have always spoiled me with nice things, they have always made sure my siblings and I had nice clothes and a decent meal to eat. They are even paying for me to attain a college education. Dasani and her family however are a lot different from mine. In the “Invisible Child” Elliot tells us how Dasani’s parents do not have legit jobs, instead they have side “hustles” that only bring in a few dollars. Elliot states (2013) that a lot of mornings Dasani was starving at school because she had no breakfast. Dasani and her siblings also had to wear clothes that were

"You think because I am her mother I have a key, or that in some way you could use me as a key? She has lived for nineteen years. Over and over, we are told of the limitations on choice--"it was the only way"; "They persuaded me" and verbs of necessity recur for descriptions of both the mother's and Emily's behavior. " In such statements as "my wisdom ! came too late," the story verges on becoming an analysis of parental guilt. With the narrator, we construct an image of the mother's own development: her difficulties as a young mother alone with her daughter and barely surviving during the early years of the depression; her painful months of enforced separation from her daughter; her gradual and partial relaxation in response to a new husband and a new family as more children follow; her increasingly complex anxieties about her first child; and finally her sense of family balance which surrounds but does not quite include the early memories of herself and Emily in the grips of survival needs. In doing so she has neither trivialized nor romanticized the experience of motherhood; she has indicated the wealth of experience yet to be explored in the story’s possibilities of experiences, like motherhood, which have rarely been granted serious literary consideration. Rather she is searching for

The poem “The Mother” written by Gwendolyn Brooks in 1945, is a poem that focuses on the immeasurable losses a woman experiences after having an abortion. The poems free verse style has a mournful tone that captures the vast emotions a mother goes through trying to cope with the choices she has made. The author writes each stanza of the poem using a different style, and point of view, with subtle metaphors to express the speaker’s deep struggle as she copes with her abortions. The poem begins with, “Abortions will not let you forget” (Brooks 1), the first line of the poem uses personification to capture your attention. The title of the poem has the reader’s mindset centered around motherhood, but the author’s expertise with the opening line, immediately shifts your view to the actual theme of the poem. In this first line the speaker is telling you directly, you will never forget having an abortion. Brooks utilizes the speaker of the poem, to convey that this mother is pleading for forgiveness from the children she chose not to have.

The paper, “The Immorality of Having Children”, by Stuart Rachels provides insight as to why it is wrong to raise children by supporting the Famine Relief Argument. Rachels argues that the cost of raising a child today, over two-hundred thousand, is so staggering that it would be better spent on donations towards famine relief projects. Throughout the paper, Rachels provides substantial arguments that emphasize the point that having children is the biggest decision that someone will ever make in their life rather than what to believe or whether to get married, and the decision should not be taken lightly. All the arguments presented are persuasive, but the argument is flawed overall because it never takes into account the importance of

The author starts the book with the story of her aunt. This story was a well-kept family secret being that her aunt’s actions were of great disappointment to the family. The “no name woman” as the story names her, was forgotten by all her family because she had a child that was not from her husband. This story gives a clear

The mother begins to rebel against tradition by taking an active role in educating and freeing herself. Through her radio, telephone and trips out with her sons she develops her own opinions about the world, the war, and the domination and seclusion of woman. She loses her innocence as a result to her new knowledge and experience.

After a few of these vain attempts to convince the man to consider having the baby, she implores him to "Please. please please please please please please stop talking" (272). The author uses her avoidance of confrontation and denial of self-expression to assure the reader that the girl?s weak and dependent nature prevents her from verbally expressing her point of view. Even the use of character terms?the man and the girl?reinforces this effect.

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

Maya Angelou said, “To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power. Or the climbing, falling colors of a rainbow” (Wanderlust 1). The relationship a mother has with her child transcends all other relationships in complexity. Maternity largely contributes to the female identity in part because the ability to sexually reproduce is uniquely female. With this ability often comes an unparalleled feeling of responsibility. That is, mothers experience an inherent desire to protect their children from the world and guide them through life. Serving as a child’s protector then transforms a woman’s perspective, or the female gaze. While these protective instincts often arise naturally, they are also reinforced by the ideas society’s perpetuates about motherhood. Globally, women are expected to assume the roles of wives and mothers. The belief that motherhood is somewhat of a requirement assists in the subjugation of women and reinforces a plethora of gendered stereotypes. While some women enjoy the process of childrearing, others feel that having a family comes at an irreparable cost: losing sight of oneself. In response to the polarized views surrounding maternity, several authors have employed different writing techniques to illustrate the mother-child dynamic. Through the examination of three narratives, spanning fiction and non-fiction, one is able to better define maternity and the corresponding female gaze in both symbolic and universal terms.