Mother (Part TWO)

 **This blog is a followup to my previous one, so if you are really interested, I would suggest reading it**

When I left off with my previous blog, I concluded that Mother, even early in the book, went though an extensive transformation just from the appearance of this baby in her yard, while Father remains disapproving, displeased, and more or less unchanged. Mother was growing away from Father, and Father, seemingly stuck in the past with his “conservative” ideals, was either unaware, didn’t care enough, or didn’t know what to do. Now having finished reading the book, these trends have very obviously carried on to the end of the story. It’s actually a little surreal how different of characters they are, as if Doctorow said to himself “How can I make the most out of their differences and force them apart.” (Ok, maybe that is a bit of an exaggeration, but I don’t think it’s that crazy). 

Looking back at it, Mother and Father can be simplified down to dynamic vs static characters. Even at the beginning of the book, this is clear… Father is stuck in the past, seemingly unaware of just the existence of immigrants (?), and we also hear Father’s opinion on change in the sport of baseball. Overall, Father as a character is very resistant to change, or more specific: progress. (It could be said that Father is probably a representation of a large population of Americans that have the same ideals). When he and the family moves to Atlantic City, he is also resistant to change and finds himself to be lost in the dynamic environment of this bustling coastal city. Whereas, Mother discovers yet another chance to add yet another aspect of dynamacy to her life. She meets Tateh, the same person we have been following since earlier in the book. (What are the chances!!?). 

At the end of the book, we have a completely different Mother (and Father too, technically). Completely estranged, Father died doing what he loved.. Business (if he was capable of love 😬 ), where Mother is flourishing in California wish a new love, reinvigorated sense of self, and more awareness of her sexuality.

Overall, the story of Mother and Father can be seen as a general trend among American history. Father, the conservative businessman dies relatively alone, whereas Mother, the progressive dreamer is, by any metric, succeeding. Perhaps this reflects some of Doctorow’s own personal beliefs (just maybe🤔).