Introduction
The poem “The Mother” by Gwendolyn Brooks is a distressing poem on a mother who procured several abortions. By reading the poem, a reader can discern the grief, heartache, and distressing pain that she is going through. While she is regretful and remorseful about her past actions, she explains that she tried to deliberate even though she got it wrong. This paper critically analyses the poem and traces the emotional, mental, and physical challenges that the speakers seem to experience after the past abortions.
Main Body
First, the narrator speaks about the complex topic of abortion. With the numerous abortions procured worldwide, it will not be correct to regard the topic as a light one. The phrase “Abortions will not you forget” reveals what the poem is about and shows the mental challenges associated with its aftermath. Immediately after introducing the reader to the topic, the speaker describes the fetuses that should have existed as people but did not. The imagination of what the aborted children would have become indicates the regret emotions that the speaker, a mother, is experiencing.
The Second stanza expresses the mental anguish that the speaker is experiencing. Abortion has led the speaker to believe that she had killed them and their unheard voices. She tries to bring out the feelings of a woman who made the horrible decision of killing her children. Although she indicates that her decisions were well-thought, she seems to be repenting her decision of procuring an abortion. She says,” Believe that even in my deliberateness I was not deliberate/Though why should I whine,” One can quickly tell that the speaker seems to believe that she will never repeat the same mistake if given a chance to rewind the clock.
Additionally, the speaker also seems to be going through mental problems occasioned by several past abortions that she has had to procure. The first line of stanza two describes someone being tortured by the spirits of those she has killed. “I have heard in the voices of the wind the voices of my dim killed children/I have contracted. I have eased.” The half-rhyme of dim and wind makes the voices of the damn killed children even more potent. Also, the fact that she keeps wondering about the looks of the aborted children is a clear indication of the mental struggles that she is experiencing.” The damp small pulps with a little or with no hair.”
Further, even though the speaker procured an abortion, she emerges as a woman with love and compassion. In stanza three, she indicates that she loved all her children. She states, “Believe me, I loved you all” Even though she addresses people who are not physically present, it is clear that she has them in her mind and heart. Moreover, the fact that the speaker repeats the word I love you all twice in the last stanza indicates her love for the aborted children. All this adds to more emotional challenges as it is hard to bear the fact that she killed the children she loved. It is also good to note that despite the third stanza being three lines long; it contains anaphora, emphasizing the love message more clearly (Brooks 24-25).
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is clear that despite having procured abortions in the past, she wanted to be a mother to her children. Her decision to procure an abortion seemed to cause many mental, physical, and emotional challenges. Even though the speaker is not definite on advising women against abortions, her remorseful expressions after procuring abortions should discourage anyone who wants to try abortions. She had loved them all even though she did not let them see the light of the day and she regrets it.
Work Cited
Brooks, Cleanth. The Well Wrought Urn: Studies in the Structure of Poetry. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Wor14,1947.