The complex relationship between a mother and her teenage daughter is artfully portrayed through vivid imagery that captures their emotional distance and longing for connection. As the daughter seeks her mother's acceptance, the story explores the intricate dance of intimacy and detachment. Through evocative scenes, the narrative reveals the daughter's growing independence and her nostalgic yearning for the closeness they once shared.

Emotional Distance and Lyrical Imagery

The story is rich with symbolic images illustrating the widening gap between mother and daughter. At one point, after the daughter's physical development, she reflects, "Between my mother and me now were the tears I had cried, and I gathered up some stones and banked them in so that they formed a small pond" of thick black liquid, a habitat fit only for invertebrates. This pond symbolizes the emotional barriers that have formed between them. Both mother and daughter now interact cautiously, cloaking their true feelings with perfunctory expressions of love.

Scenes of Intimacy and Division

The narrative weaves through a series of lyrical scenes, each highlighting the complex intimacy between the two. In one poignant moment, the daughter and her mother sit together on the mother's bed, enveloped in candlelight. Their shadows play on the walls, yet the emotional distance between them remains palpable. These scenes poignantly capture the daughter's internal conflict—her simultaneous craving for independence and her deep-seated desire for her mother's comfort.

Confidence and Yearning

Illustrative scenes convey the daughter's burgeoning self-assurance juxtaposed with her longing for her mother's nurturing presence. In one instance, she seeks solace from her mother, but as her mother reaches out in kindness, the daughter steps away. With newfound confidence, she issues a triumphant roar, only to lapse into a pitiful lament. This interaction underscores her struggle to navigate her reliance on and rejection of her mother's affection.

Transformative Encounters

The story continues with metamorphic imagery, depicting the mother as a lizardlike creature instructing the daughter to mimic her movements. In another scene, the daughter transforms into a lamb, illustrating her vulnerability and meekness. When the mother comments on her daughter's cross expression, the daughter retaliates by constructing a trap—a house over a pit—only for her mother to escape unscathed. Frustrated, she destroys the structure and fills in the pit, symbolizing her unresolved resentment and futile attempts to distance herself from her mother.

Connection and Alienation

The narrative circles back to the pond of invertebrates, created from the daughter's tears. She perceives herself as enlarged, yet her mother looms even larger in her mind. They build homes on opposite sides of the pond, visually representing their enduring bond and the chasm between them. The daughter is torn between mourning their estrangement and being exhausted by her anger towards her mother.

Separation and Renewal

Eventually, the mother sends her daughter on a journey, ostensibly to Great Britain for further education. This physical separation paradoxically fosters a newfound intimacy. Upon arrival, the daughter encounters a woman who mirrors her mother, and she feels a profound connection to this figure. In her mind, she resides with her mother, sharing meals and finding comfort "perfectly in the crook of my mother’s arm." Their movements through the house are fluid, "we merge and separate, merge and separate; soon we shall enter the final stage of our evolution," suggesting that their bond, while transient, offers a fleeting sense of unity.

Fantasy and Reality

As the story concludes, the daughter envisions her mother as a divine figure, blessing the sea with abundance for the fishermen. Now a young woman, the daughter adorns herself with lime blossoms and embraces her maturity, with "a woman’s womb" likened to a hummingbird's nest on her belly. Despite this idyllic portrayal, the scene hints at a regression to childhood bliss—a temporary fusion with her mother. The resolution remains uncertain, yet it implies that the daughter, though independent, carries her mother’s influence within her, perceiving her presence in the world around her.