Gwendolyn Brooks The Mother Essay

Is the poem “the mother” written by Gwendolyn Brooks an anti-abortion poem or about a mother’s guilt? It is all in how the reader chooses to interpret it. The Poem is about a mother that has performed one or more abortions. The poem describes how a mother will never forget he unborn children. "The Mother" shows great emotion and the speaker’s grief and gloomy attitude. Gwendolyn Brooks illustrates how the speaker feels imprisoned by her decision through images and guilt. It is like she is speaking to the mothers that have performed abortions. They will never forget the children they never gave life too.
The first line of the poem is a very powerful one. “Abortions will never let you forget. You remember the children you got that you did not get”. (line ) Brooks give a very vivid description of a fetus just aborted but gives a prominent poetic spin on it. “The damp small pulps with a little or with no hair”. (lines ) Brookes then has the Mother thinking about what the children would have become singers or workers. She then goes on to tell us what the mother will miss out on.
The mother in the poem has heard the children’s voices and has dreamed about them. She is feeling guilty and knows that she has sinned against them. She talks about how guilty she feels about
The poem express guilt, remorse and love. The mother in the poem regrets that she took away the life of her child. She thinks about all the things that were taken away from the child. She admits to herself that she did take a life in “You were born, you had body, you died.” (line ) She know that she took the laughs the planning and the cry’s from the child. The Mother admits the guilt and regret but she still loved all of her children even if she only knew them for a short time. The poem helps the reader to feel the mother remorse though the images the poem brings to