The Mother by Gwendolyn Brooks Essay - 1709 Words

In a world in which abortion is considered either a womans 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 narrators longing and regret over the children she will never have is highlighted by the change in tone†¦show more content†¦It is possible that the narrator is trying to reassure herself in this passage by claiming that the child was never made, but then why write the poem to her unborn children? Directly addressing the aborted children, the mother is able to relate her experience to other women who may be contemplating abortion; perhaps the narrator is trying to warn other mothers with tone and diction: You will remember the children you got that you did not get, The damp small pulps with a little or with no hair, The singers and workers that never handled the air. You will never neglect or beat Them, or silence or buy with a sweet. You will never wind up the sucking-thumb Or scuttle off ghosts that come. You will never leave them, controlling your luscious sigh, Return for a snack of them, with gobbling mother-eye. (2-10) The word remember in line two may be considered a play on words; re-member, or dismemberment as in the case of an abortion. Damp small pulps in line three sounds animalistic, as if Brooks is saying pups instead of pulps. If the word pulp was in fact intended, it is then part of the poems imagery, indicating something that is crushed,Show MoreRelatedThe Mother By Gwendolyn Brooks1183 Words   |  5 Pages Throughout the course of the semester I will be reading and analyzing the poem â€Å"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 contradictionRead MoreThe Mother By Gwendolyn Brooks1563 Words   |  7 Pages â€Å"the mother† was written by Gwendolyn Brooks in 1945 who was born in topeka Kansas on June 7, 1917. â€Å"the mother† was published in her 1945 collection â€Å"A Street in Bronzeville†, in 1950 Brooks became the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize.(bio) â€Å"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 â€Å"the mother† is a anti-abortion poem, it is a emotional outpour of the sense of guilt by a mother who hasRead MoreGwendolyn Brooks s The Mother1212 Words   |  5 Pages 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, â€Å"the mother†, â€Å"a song in the front yard†, and â€Å"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 differingRead More The Mother by Gwendolyn Brooks Essay618 Words   |  3 PagesThe Mother by Gwendolyn Brooks 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 -- thingsRead MoreAnalysis Of The Mother By Gwendolyn Brooks1900 Words   |  8 Pagestermination is involuntary or by choice, it will likely lead to a change in the mental state of the person involved. In the poem â€Å"The Mother† the author, Gwendolyn Brooks, shows what a mother who has experienced an abortion goes through and the obstacles that she faced on a daily basis. Brooks uses extremely detailed and graphic examples of the things that the mother in the story lives with every day of her life to show the guilt and emo tional trauma one specific woman has to face following an abortionRead MoreAn Abortion in the Poem, The Mother by by Gwendolyn Brooks739 Words   |  3 PagesThe poem â€Å"The Mother† by Gwendolyn Brooks is about the aftereffects and feelings that come from an abortion. The woman in the poem shows remorse over the children she aborted earlier in her life and regrets that she gave up the chance to be a mother to them. This poem, while about a woman who chose to have abortions, still carries with it a clear pro-life message. The woman in the poem is clearly someone who feels guilt over the abortions she has had. She shows her regrets through describing whatRead MoreLiterary Analysis OfThe Mother, By Gwendolyn Brooks721 Words   |  3 PagesGwendolyn 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 â€Å"TheRead MoreWho is Gwendoyn Brooks?1017 Words   |  5 PagesGwendolyn Brooks was one of the many great writers. In her early poetry, Brooks attacked racial discrimination, praised African American heroes, and satirized booth blacks and whites. She showed g reat mastery of classic and Modernist poetic techniques. Gwendolyn Brooks was born on June 7,1917 in Topeka, Kansas. She grew up in the Chicago community called Bronzeville (Brooks 1). Gwendolyn Brooks parents was David and Kiziah Brooks. Her mother was a school teacher. Gwendolyns father wasRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem Gwendolyn Brooks 1030 Words   |  5 Pagesstop?† (â€Å"Gwendolyn† BrainyQuote.com) Gwendolyn Brooks, born in 1917 in Kansas grew up with her father, David Anderson Brooks and her mother, Keziah Wims Brooks. Although born in Kansas, Gwendolyn was raised in Illinois (Shor). Throughout her life she dealt with real issues and confronted them within her writing. Her thoughts and poetry would continue to be relevant for decades, even as time goes on, the world still remains a broken place. â€Å"The Brooks household was a happy one, and Gwendolyn thrivedRead MoreThemes Of Racism And Poverty1495 Words   |  6 PagesRacism and Poverty By focusing on racism and poverty in the black community, there are elements of both themes in August Wilson’s Fences, Alice Walker’s â€Å"Everyday Use,† and Gwendolyn Brooks’ â€Å"What Shall I Give My Children.† By critically evaluating the main characters in each piece, elements of racism and poverty are identified in all three texts. All three of these texts show the hardships blacks experienced and how they suffered. In Fences, â€Å"Everyday Use,† and â€Å"What Shall I Give My Children,†