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As I am also sitting in front of my nice Fujitsu, I saw Rasik's post immediately, and want to respond also immediately, particularly because of the lines with which Rasik concluded his post. BTW Rasik, I have had similar feelings, and would be very sorry if we have to close up shop because of lack of time or of interest from the majority on this list. I hope that there is a way out of this dilemma - One suggestion is that everybody posts at least once a week. Surely everybody has something or the other to say after reading so many nice stories in Dubliners. I read the story, "A Mother" yesterday, and was surprised that much against my intuition the background of this mother is not the father. Those of you who have not yet read A Mother hardly need to go to the original, after Rasik's very good summary and comments. I was surprised at the first instance that Joyce is not writing glorifying mothers, and rather shows the "darker" side of the human being. It was the title which had misled me, and I had thought that now I will read about a super loving, self sacrificing woman. I am glad that the story turned out to be something else. Though Rasik sees this mother as "The controlling, domineering mother whose children get stifled by her overpowering ways" I have sympathy for Mrs. Kearney. She is fighting for her right, and to me is symbolic of the corrupt ways in which such committees are managed, of the ways in which such women (or women in general) are taken advantage of. Why did you, Rasik, not chastise Mr. Holohan who obviously did not keep up his word, and tried to "cheat" on the agreement? I feel sorry for Mrs. Kearney as she had lost before she started the fight, because the world is full of characters who say (as at the end of the story) " You did the proper thing, Holohan, said Mr. O'Madden Burke, poised upon his umbrella in approval." I also wonder at the character of Kathleen, at the docile manner in which she accepts her mother's behaviour. Having been a daughter, and being a mother, I know how one feels ashamed of such scenes, particularly if the scenes are created for one's own sake. This is what I did not understand. All the other characters are true to life, but not the character of Kathleen. More at another time, Chandra |
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