Night, Mother | Issues of Identity and Autonomy
In this essay, the Metzger discusses issues of identity and autonomy.
A critical issue in 'night, Mother is the relationship between Jessie and her mother, Thelma. It is evident in Jessie's preparations for her suicide that she regards herself as her mother's primary caretaker. Jessie is responsible for her mother's diet, for the maintenance of the home, and for her mother's health, or so her Thelma lets her believe. In assuming so much control over her mother, Jessie has reversed the mother-daughter relationship and has become a mother to her own mother. It is little wonder, then, that she cannot imagine an identity separate from her mother's. In...
[The entire page is 1675 words long]
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