{"id":15825,"date":"2022-03-23T15:48:54","date_gmt":"2022-03-23T11:18:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raeesdana.com\/en\/?p=15825"},"modified":"2023-06-26T00:35:50","modified_gmt":"2023-06-25T21:05:50","slug":"image-of-a-mother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raeesdana.com\/en\/image-of-a-mother\/","title":{"rendered":"Image of a Mother"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Image of a <\/span>Mother<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>The speaker in Gina Valdes\u2019 poem \u201cMy Mother Sews Blouses\u201d <\/span><\/span>is an offspring<\/span>, boy or girl, who is speaking of his\/ her mother\u2019s unfair job as an example of a low income social class group. Through the mother job\u2019s environment, the reader understands the working class that she belongs. The speaker conveys the feature of the mother, her determination to face the<\/span> problems. In fact, the mother\u2019s job condition is a pretext to narrate a worker community. To further illustrate this short poem with a modern form, I will be analyzing the poem by using the formalist criticism. Through the speaker, Valdes uses imagery, symbols, content, and form to illustrate the mother\u2019s plight as an undocumented manual laborer in a worker group. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/a>The mother\u2019s unjust job is an example of a worker group setting in a fabric factory in the first stanza by the speaker. The title and the opening line suggest that the mother is employed \u201cMy Mother Sews Blouses\u201d (1), and then the reader is sure that she is a woman laborer with a low-level<\/span> wage \u201cfor a dollar a piece\u201d (2). This low wage illustrates her ill-fated situation in the society, an undocumented worker. <\/a>Not only the mother, <\/span>but a group of workers in the same position, illegal workers, are working under the table \u201cThey must be working on\u201d (3). <\/span><\/span>They are working in an inappropriate factory because \u201cher fingers sliding on\/ her eyelids\u201d (5-6) that shows the air is still and the lint<\/span> of fabrics hurts their eyes. Therefore, the mother and certainly the other workers have eye problems, and<\/span> they are sliding their eyelids. <\/u><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/a><\/a>The speaker also reinforces the mother\u2019s low social class by imaging the unconventional treatment of her eyes by the oculist. The unhealthy job environment has affected the mother\u2019s eyes. n a flashback, the mother seemed to have a temporary cure for her eyes problem \u201cSix months ago she went\/ to the old oculist \u2026\u201d (7-8). The oculist method<\/span> and the material that he uses for treatment, just a tiny knife for getting out the lint from her eyes, is again stressing the mother\u2019s unfair position.<\/span> The mother does not have any other choice because of her poverty. <\/span>The peak of her problems comes to a head<\/span> when the reader finds out that the treatment does not cure her eyes; it adds a new problem. For a short time she is happy because her eyes \u201c\u2026were bright and\/ Clear for a few months\u201d (15-16), but \u201c<\/span><\/span>She\u2019s blinking now\u201d (17). The doctor is not using any anesthetic or numbing medicine just a tiny knife for cleaning her eyes. The mother is poor and does not have enough money to pay for a suitable doctor. In other words<\/span>, she does not have another choice. Because of poverty, the mother has to go to the doctor, who<\/span> is unclear whether<\/span> he is a doctor or not. Despite many issues such as low income, the mother does not lose<\/span> her hope, and she wants to develop her social status, \u201ctalking about night\/ school\u201d (18-19). In<\/span> fact, the mother does not accept this destiny and wants to improve her life, maybe because she is trying to be a good role model for her kid, the speaker. Although these verses give<\/span> a tone of hope in the poem, in real life there is a low percent of workers that can improve their lives. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Furthermore, the speaker uses the symbolism and irony, both figures<\/span> of speech, freshly to connect to the mother\u2019s plight and other undocumented workers. The black color has connotated to<\/span> death or destruction. The word \u201cagain\u201d states that the disastrous event had happened before, and now they are sewing black<\/span> cloth<\/span> again for survivors. The black lint in the mother\u2019s eyes can be the symbol of worker\u2019s pain and misery. The eyes, one of the most important organs, are the symbol of wisdom, as ancient Egyptians exaggerated on its size to show its importance in their carvings. Now, a woman laborer\u2019s eyes are at the doctor\u2019s mercy. A knife, which can be a doctor’s tool and cure, its role in the poem is ambiguous. It does not help the mother because \u201cShe is blinking now,\u201d (17). It seems the knife is an instrument to distort the worker\u2019s eyes, a symbol of sight and rationality. The irony<\/span>, as well as symbolism, is in service of the poem when the speaker says the old oculist \u201cknows<\/span> all about\/ eyes\u2026\u201d (9-10). The words in the quotation mark express the irony. The old doctor knows everything about eyes, but just with a tiny knife treats the poor mother\u2019s eyes. It seems the oculist is a nickname that the workers have given to a person who has a little bit more general information about the illness<\/span>. The symbols and irony beautifully match<\/span> the poverty and position of the worker mother. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/a>Moreover, the chosen form by the speaker does not have a traditional style with the rhyme schemes, rhythm, and meter; instead,<\/span> it has a modern structure in harmony<\/span> with the concept, the presence of a woman<\/span> laborer in society. It is an open form with three stanzas that uses lines of varying length and avoids prescribed patterns of rhyme. Instead,<\/span> the speaker uses series of words with similar sounds in each stanza that calls attention to the feeling and give tone to the poem. That makes a <\/span>certain rhyme and creates pleasure to the reader. These words, for instance, in the first, second, and third stanza respectively are:<\/span> mother, dollar, working, sliding, on, on\/ went, about, out, out\/ bright, night, blinking, talking. The presence of the alliteration, the repetition of consonant sound \u201cs\u201d in words like \u201csews, sliding, six, scraped\u201d and the sound \u201cz\u201d in words like \u201cblouses, fingers, eyelids, eyes, she\u2019s\u201d are creating a special rhythm throughout the poem that reminds the reader of the sounds of scissors and the continuous rotation of the sewing machine.<\/span> The contraction of rhyme, rhythm, irony, and symbolism, is<\/span> in the service of the poem<\/span> to make a concept and image of the low-wage worker class. <\/span><\/p>\n

The mother\u2019s misery as a manual worker in the poem can be considered<\/span> as an example of a worker in the<\/span> society. In fact, the poem is not just the narration of a poor mother. It is the image of undocumented<\/span> workers with a low-wage and unhealthy job conditions that put their health at risk. Nevertheless, the poem is closing with a nice dream or goal of the mother, to go back to the school and improve her life. It refers to a common dream for all miserly people who do not want to accept their destiny and try to improve their lives because life is a big challeng at all times.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Works Cited<\/span><\/p>\n

Valdes, Gina. \u201cMy Mother Sews Blouses.\u201d Literature and the Writing Process<\/i>. Ed. Elizabeth \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

McMahan et al. 11th<\/sup> ed. Pearson, 2018. Print. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Image of a Mother \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The speaker in Gina Valdes\u2019 poem \u201cMy Mother Sews Blouses\u201d is an offspring, boy or girl, who is speaking of his\/ her mother\u2019s unfair job […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":15877,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[220,222],"tags":[324],"class_list":["post-15825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-en","category-english-translated-books-en","tag-gina-valdes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/raeesdana.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/raeesdana.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/raeesdana.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raeesdana.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raeesdana.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15825"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/raeesdana.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15825\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15826,"href":"https:\/\/raeesdana.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15825\/revisions\/15826"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raeesdana.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/raeesdana.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raeesdana.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raeesdana.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}