My OperaWhy did the narrator want to see her mother in the doorway?
By phamho. Friday, May 25, 2007 7:25:41 AM
(written by Le Thi Nguyet Thu - DH02G-AV28)
‘Having Mom, my life is full of happiness. Having Mom, my life is warmer'. This is a song of a child talking about her mother. Feel like, Mother is the most meaningful part in the child's life. Yes, it is true. But does anyone of us really know the true meaning of having a Mother once she is still beside us? Still we can see what a child feel like when losing her Mom in Grace Paley's ‘Mother'.
‘Having Mom, my life is full of happiness. Having Mom, my life is warmer'. This is a song of a child talking about her mother. Feel like, Mother is the most meaningful part in the child's life. Yes, it is true. But does anyone of us really know the true meaning of having a Mother once she is still beside us? Still we can see what a child feel like when losing her Mom in Grace Paley's ‘Mother'.
‘Mother', a short title, is like the call of the writer that was suddenly spoken up when she heard the song ‘Oh, I Long to See My Mother in the Doorway' on the radio. It was said that ‘Years after her death a mother is remembered by her child'. The Mother was death a long time ago. But why was it ‘years after' when the child remembered her? Maybe, with a busy life, the child had no time to think about her Mother. But one day, the song on the radio had brought up every memory of her Mom. The song had something familiar with the author. ‘I long to see my Mother in the doorway'. It is the child's wish to see her Mother once again. But it is ‘in the doorway', not every place in the house. ‘As a matter of fact, she did stand frequently in various doorways looking at me'. The author's Mother used to stand at the doorway. It is not only one doorway but various doorways in the house. At the front doorway, the Mother complained to her child about coming home late. At the door of the kitchen, she scolded the writer at her political activity. ‘And then she died'. She was gone, leaving nothing but complaining that was still in the child's mind. Seem like every time the Mother appeared, she was always in the doorway, complaining to her child. The impression that she had built up with the readers was only her too-much-talking. And at that time, the author surely would feel uncomfortable with a Mother like that. Doorway is the only way to get out of the room or the house. It is, to the child, also the only way to get freedom, to run away from the Mother. This point reminded us to Dam and Rip Van Winkle. One yelled and one ran away. The child did not want to hear her Mom's too –much – talking, she wanted to do what she liked, hanging out with friends, going to some places and coming home little bit late. This kind of feeling is shared by maybe every other child in the world. I myself also feel annoying with my Mom because she talked so much!!!
But why did the author long to see her Mother in the doorway? This kind of memory was no longer unpleasant to her. It became the most meaningful memory about her Mother. She now grew up. She had more freedom now. She could do everything she wanted. But she had no Mom. And she began to taste the bitter feeling of losing a Mother. It is said that a Mother is created to care for her child in every minute of her life even though her child is good or bad, wrong or right. Her responsibility is to protect her child and she spends all of her strength doing it. Therefore, every Mother has a holy job. And she is going to do it in her whole life. She will not stop until the day she dies. Unluckily, not many of us know the true meaning of a Mother in our life. Somewhere in the world, there is a child yelling at his mother, shutting the door behind her and leaving her with grief. One day he will know what he is losing. In this society, we have to run out to work, we have no time to think about our warm and dear family. Sometimes, we need somebody to scold at us, to tell us what to do as a leader. I myself did feel it as I am living far away from my Mom. Although there is a sister beside me taking care of me when I need help, sometimes a sister cannot take the responsibility of a Mother. There is a Vietnamese song, ‘being orphaned is so pity. No one cared when we are hungry and thirsty'. Hungry and thirsty are the feeling of being lost in life when no one there to guide us. And that is also what the narrator was feeling, the feeling of pity when losing Mother. And it was more pity as she did not recognize that she once had a Mother. Sometimes we do not care of what we are having, but when losing it, we begin to regret. The narrator wished that she had spent more time with her Mom listening to what she told her, doing anything to make her happy. But now it was too late. She had no chance to see her Mother as usual.
Paley's ‘Mother' is a meaningful story of a child missing her Mother. This is also a lesson for all of us who are daughters and sons. How happy we are when having a Mother! Do not ever forget this feeling! Let cherish it whenever we have a chance to.
Anonymous # Wednesday, March 10, 2010 8:33:24 PM
phamho # Tuesday, June 15, 2010 4:31:02 AM