Grace Paley - Mother (Overview)

When you read Paley's "Mother" for the first time, you think, "Okay, so why would anyone give this to students to read when there's so much more that can be squeezed out of other short pieces of writing?" Why not give them Lawrence or Joyce to help analyze 159 facets of human relationships? Slap them with some Chopin or Woolf, both of whom produced slightly longer short stories through which you'd be able to demonstrate how a short story works and get a nice discussion going about relationships to boot.

Meanwhile, after reading "Mother" for the first time, the main aspect that stays with readers is an overwhelming sensation of nostalgia and sadness bordering on melancholy. Whyever would any author write something this condensed to simply express despondency over a deceased parent? Can this story be that over-simplified?

And then you re-read Paley's piece (because you have to give students some information on it so they don't feel the academic hour was for nothing) and realize that there is much more to it than meets the eye: there is method and depth and forethought. To reach that overwhelming sensation, Paley effortlessly glides from one memory to the next, creating snapshots of life which -- pardon the cliché -- speak louder than words, as is often the case with photos. As was the case with "The Cranes", a vignette is adeptly sketched.

In fact, by the time you finish looking at this 420-word piece of writing again, you fear that you've missed another five to ten things you should have picked up, because the truth of the matter is that although "Mother" looks like an extract from a longer story, it is a completed text, powerful and whole for all its simplicity. The aura of sadness that besieges a reader's mind during the first reading gains substance through sequential facts that reveal as much about the narrator's mother as they do about the narrator.

You can read this very short piece here.

The notes hereinafter should help guide you to the essence of the story.

Grace Paley – Mother

life

1922-2007
poetry, short stories, political activist
parents emigrated from Ukraine in 1906: father = doctor; parents spoke Yiddish, Russian, learned English
Grace was the youngest of 3
known for pacifism (political activism) against nuclear proliferation, American militarization, against Vietnam War; went to Hanoi to negotiate release of POW’s

story

simple
person thinking back to their mother
no start, no end to story ⇒ it’s not a story; just thoughts but through them we learn practically all we need to know about this person + the family
story is a confessional for narrator ⇒ regrets not being there for mother; too caught up in themselves
story written in hindsight: narrator puts him/herself in mother’s shoes by thinking the thoughts mother would have been thinking

plot

narrator hears song “Oh, I long to see my mother in the doorway”: line from the song "On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away" (was later made official state song of Indiana): song is about songwriter reminiscing about his childhood years & home near Wabash River in Indiana

narrator remembers memories of his mother & childhood (flashbacks)

1^st memory: doorway = front door

New Year’s Day

narrator was 14 yrs old

had come home late, at 4 am

mother knew she was dying

mother wondered what time narrator would return when he/she is 20

narrator explains mother’s tone (not critical, but wondering)

2^nd memory: doorway = of narrator’s room

narrator had issued political manifesto (Communist ideas in it ⇒ the Second Red Scare/ McCarthyism)

mother = cynical/more experienced

mother saw + guessed it all in 1905

1905 = Russian Revolution (worker strikes, peasant unrest, military mutinies, Bloody Sunday massacre)

mother’s point of view is different from daughter’s

mother saw political unrest would lead to dissent, deaths, disaster

warns daughter to stand down on her non-conformist opinions

3^rd memory: doorway = kitchen door

criticized narrator for not finishing lunch, running around
narrator is always in a hurry

break: turning point

“then she died”

emphatic break from reminiscing

scattered memories

places narrator would have liked to have seen her but didn’t have the chance
narrator can only remember her being in places
these short memories say much about mother:

aunts in kitchen (family person, closer to other women)
looking out of window (observant, nosy, worried)
garden with flowers (calm, nature-lover)
with father in living room

these characteristics of narrator’s mother = in contrast with young narrator ⇒ fervent, politicized, in a hurry
focus of memories falls on father & mother (shows stream-of-consciousness technique)

immigrants
learned English gradually
brilliant father (doctor), had to pass exam to be accepted
mother left job in shop to stay at home (sacrifices herself)

4^th memory: doorway = living room door

more emotional “I wish I could see her in the doorway of the living room.”
repetition of song’s lyrics paraphrased (as if song reached that point so narrator is thinking as he/ she’s listening = stream-of-consciousness)
parents listening to Bach (cultivated)
parents estranged (don’t talk much anymore)
father’s tired from work (saw 30 people that day) + tired of talking to them
he remembers wife once had nice singing voice: now her voice sounds harsh to him; maybe due to her illness

repetition/conclusion

“Then she died.”
shows regret narrator has + feels what mother must have felt
every time “Then she died” is written, a family member doesn’t have time to spend with mother: narrator leaves lunch hurriedly; father doesn’t keep his wife company

general comment

narrator and father might not have known she was dying, hence their behavior towards mother: this interpretation explains narrator’s regret + reason for writing the story

symbols

marigold

remembering and celebrating the dead
despair and grief over the loss of love
origin of name from Latin = “little clock”: story is like a little clock, going back in time to remember mother
Victorians also linked it with cruel treatment towards a loved one