Brooks made a strong political statement about abortion in this poem that could easily be interpreted as pro-life. Though her subject goes back and forth between both good and bad feelings about her aborted children and what could have been, the overall tone of this writing is dark, guilt-ridden and depressing. This poem thought-provokingly addresses a prominent issue for many women at this juncture in the history of America that remains a prominent issue for women even today. “The Mother” was written in 1945, shortly after the Great Depression had ended. Due to the extensive financial hardship that came with that time, many women chose to have abortions for fear that they could not afford to properly care for a new baby.
She had no confidence in her mother growing up, and saw her as a “limit” and an “embarrassment”. Later in Tan’s life, she found several surveys which led her to realize that she was not alone; there were other Asian-Americans who may have shared the same struggles as her. Tan creates a symbolic diction through the use of words like “broken”, “limited”, and “fractured”. She is very repetitive with her use of these words, although she explains how she hated when people described her mother’s english that way. Although Tan knows that the way her and her mother converse is not grammatically correct, she has grown to love it.
In contrast, Gwendolyn Brooks’ “the mother” exposes the reality and un-motherly act of abortion. This mother (Mother 2) claims that “You remember the children you got that you did not get,” (Pg. 1579). Within this line there is a tone of regret; however, how can Mother 2 justify her act of cruelty to her unborn children who were denied the rights to become “The singers and workers that never handled the air.” (Pg. 1579) Both authors weave the theme of uncertainty pertaining to motherhood through their poetry.
The fact that the mother fears for her child’s safety and sends her to what she believes is a safe place is ultimately where her daughter meets her demise. Another specific example of irony within the poem is the fact that her mother dresses her in her fancy church clothes, white gloves included, which is ultimately the dress in which one might be buried. In lines six and seven, the words “fierce,” “wild,” “clubs,” “hoses,” and “guns” all conjure up images of fights and riots. In stanza five, the images shift to those of a pure and innocent nature with the words “rose petal sweet.” The imagery shifts again causing a feeling of panic in stanza seven with the words “explosion” and “raced.” Randall uses musical devices to emphasize the effectiveness of the poem. Alliteration in used in the following examples: “for,” “fear,” and “fire” (14) and “wet” and “wild” (26).
In the “Lost Baby Poem,” Lucille Clifton allows a woman to reminisce about the unborn child that she chose to abort. No one knows the circumstances this young woman may have been experiencing at the moment which may have caused her to take the life of the unborn fetus; as a result, the young woman regrets the decision she made. In the first paragraph, an older woman is talking about the self made abortion that she experienced while in her youth. Clifton allows the readers to visualize the abortion of the unborn fetus by stating, “[…] I dropped your almost body down /down to meet the waters under the city/ and run one with the sewage to the sea.” Being flushed down the toilet and swepted into the sewage sounds like a very harsh way for an partially innocent life to be taken; however, no one knows the circumstances surrounding the actions of this young lady. Besides describing the drastic abortion of the unborn fetus, the speaker acknowledges the immaturity level of the young individual stating, “what did I know about waters rushing back/what did I know about drowning/or being drowned.” The individual young lady may not have fully comprehended the outcome of her actions because she seemed shock that fetus drowned when she flushed it down the toilet.
Another sentence ‘certainly I never had you as you still have me, Caroline.’ proved that the poet was conveying the message that her daughter never belonged to her instead, she belonged to her daughter. The question ‘why does a mother need a daughter?’ was powerful because indeed, there shouldn’t be a need for a daughter if the parents aren’t going to be the ones owning their own child. As shown in stanza two, ‘heart’s needle’ signifies the heart which is delicate, fragile, life and love and the needle, so small but painful. The pain is not just an ordinary pain, the pain that comes from the needle is piercingly sharp which causes great damage to the heart. Every time the child does something wrong, the mother feels the heartache.
Hemingway sets the stage from the very beginning and uses symbolic objects to express the dilemma the young girl is faced with. You can tell the girl is troubled and begins to question herself if having an abortion would be the right thing to do. On the other hand you have the American that has already made up his mind and he wants her to go through with it. There are opposing views throughout the entire story, either for or against. They only have two choices, and each one will take them in two
Therefore this would be the main discussion of this short essay of how abortion comes into controversial ethical issue in these days. This is an issue of women it is therefore first favorably to examine their views as they are the main casualties of abortion and would bear hardship during pregnancy and in lifetime. In recent years and contemporary the legalizing of abortions has developed fervent debates among pro-chose supporters and pro-life advocators. Pro-chose supporters are individuals who favor the reproductive rights of women and to choose the right to have abortion. Most of these supporters are women whom they fight for their own right as they are the ones who would suffer the fatal impact of pregnancy and in bearing a child and they know what is right for them in terms of health and wealth.
Although this seems to be a ridiculous reason to hate the male population, it is Schlafly’s way of making their movement seem ridiculous. She also explains that woman have a natural instinct of maternity, that no one can teach them how to be a mom, which defends her opinion that men and woman are also different emotionally and psychologically. Sally Staples wrote and article titled “Who Will Rock the Cradle” in 1997. She proclaims a lot of the same worries as Schlafly in her book titled the same. In both articles the authors describe the worry of leaving a newborn child with a new nanny instead of their
Women should not have the right to an abortion just because the fetus has a disease or deformation. Doctors that tell mothers about the diseases or deformations the baby has, often result in abortions. Diseases or deformations should not matter when it comes to having a child because the mother should love her child just the way they are. Mothers worry about the health costs of the baby’s disease or deformation but there are a lot of financial aid and heath care programs that can help. “Women who are able to get Medicaid in states that exclude coverage for abortion have abortion rates of about half of those women in states that give money to support abortion care" (Balch 6).