Representation Of The Cycle Of Motherhood In Literarure

What would life be like without the unconditional love of mothers? How does the repetition of motherhood keep the world turning? What would the world look like without this cycle? Motherhood is a gift given to most women whether they are a mother or not, it’s the nurturing and caring affection they give without even having to try. Motherhood is it’s own cycle that keeps going and going like a circle, it’s the gift that keeps on giving.

As I stated before, motherhood is the gift that keeps on giving. Mothers and even some women that aren't mothers possess the kindness and care that comes with being a mother. In the novel “A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseini, After Laila was injured from the missles “Mariam dressed the wounds with bandages which she washed and recycled” (Housseini 200). This shows that Mariam possessed these traits without being a mother, and later on even begins to treat Laila as her own. It can also be seen in the memoir “Night” by Elie Wiesel, when it explains, “Tzipora was holding Mother's hand. I saw them walking farther and farther away; Mother was stroking my sister's blond hair, as if to protect her” (Wiesel 29). This shows how the mother is trying to provide comfort to her daughter in a frightening time and in a way tell her that it would be okay, even if it wasn’t. Lastly, in the play, “Macbeth” by Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth states, This have I thought good to deliver thee, my dearest partner of greatness, that thou might’st not lose the dues of rejoicing, by being ignorant of what greatness is promised thee. Lay it to thy heart, and farewell” (Shakespeare 224). Lady Macbeth wasn’t the greatest support and often treated her husband cruelly, but in this scene she is shown being very supportive and is rejoicing since her husband may soon be king. Motherhood isn’t just a gift, it could be depicted as a cycle as well.

Motherhood is something that continues to be passed on either through childbirth, or nurturing and caring for someone or something in a motherly way. It’s one big loving cycle. Going back to the book “A Thousand Splendid Suns”, Mammy explains to Laila, “In here. What’s in here. You just don’t know” (Housseini 125). She is referring to her love for Laila and even though she didn’t display her love all the time, the love and care was imprinted on Laila and it can be seen when she becomes a mother to Zalamai and Aziza. Another quite different scenario is when Elie’s father is stressed and sad about the Nazis coming to raid the town, he gets emotional and Elie reveals, “His father was crying. It was the first time he saw him cry. He had never thought it possible.” (Wiesel 19). This quote shows a side of Elie’s dad that normally wouldn’t be shown, but it can be assumed that he is somewhat open about his emotions because of his wife and how caring and loving she is towards him and the children. Lastly in “Macbeth”, Lady Macbeth states that, “Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness To catch the nearest way” (Shakespeare 224). Lady Macbeth knew that her husband wouldn't go through with the murder, so she ridaculed him and after a while he became stronger and more ambitious. Even though this doesn’t sound like typical caring and nurturing, she was able to help her husband gain the throne and rejoiced with him when he did. This shows that Lady Macbeth is coming from a place of tough love but she passed on her strength and ambitions and wanted to see him succeed. She also was very supportive of him, which brings me to my next point.

Without the love and support that’s given out everyday by mothers or motherly figures, the world could turn into a sad and unwelcoming place. Thinking back to the novel “Night”, Elie describes when the gates open and states, “The gates of the camp opened. It seemed as though an even darker night was waiting for us on the other side”. There are plenty of quotes throughout the novel that articulate that the camp was a cruel and unwelcoming place. From the beginning when the women and most young children were separated from the men, that love and kindness brought by mothers was snatched away. It appears that without it, there slowly became no hope, no support, and no happiness within the camp. Another example is in “A Thousand Splendid suns”, when Mariam is not shown love by her mother, even from a young age. Mariam recalls, “It was the way Nana uttered the word-not so much saying it as spitting it at her-that made Mariam feel the full sting of it” (Housseini 7). Mariam was called names and scolded by her mother often and because of this Mariam leaned towards her father but he wanted nothing to do with her either. Ultimately this left Mariam feeling unloved and her world becomes even worse when she is put into an unloving arranged marriage and forced to grow up. Lastly, in “Macbeth”, the setting and overall mood changes when everything begins to turn evil. Ross explains, “And Duncan’s horses (a thing most strange and certain), Beauteous and swift, the minions of their race, Turned wild in nature, broke their stalls, flung out, Contending ’gainst obedience, as they would Make war with mankind” (Shakespeare 242). After the murder Ross makes the observation that strange things are happening, this could tie in with the fact Lady Macbeth was only remotely caring towards Macbeth but didn’t possess the caring and kind approach towards anyone else in the castle. After she knew Macbeth had finished the murder, their ambitions had taken over and the world became unbalanced. Being unbalanced would offset them and make it so the cycle was ruined.

Motherhood could be described as a cycle or the circle of life even. Seeing motherhood as a circle is a little difficult to explain based on the real world, but mathematically the definition from “EngageNY” is, “Given point C in the plane and a number r>0, the circle with center C and radius r is the set of all points in the plane that are distance r from the point C” (EngageNY 5). This definition proves that a circle never ends, just like motherhood. Not only that, but we can even see that when a woman is pregnant, her stomach is similar to the shape of a circle. Circles are all around and may even hold subtle signs that all point to the repetition of the motherhood cycle. In science we can see, it holds a resemblance to the different cycles on Earth as well.

Cycles go on all around us, a pretty important one is the life cycle. According to “Britannica”, the life cycle is “the series of changes that the members of a species undergo as they pass from the beginning of a given developmental stage to the inception of that same developmental stage in a subsequent generation”. One of the biggest but not very obvious cycles in our lives is motherhood. Maybe it’s not a mother but rather a motherly figure like an older sibling, a babysitter, or a teacher. These people in life provide love, support, or even affection that helps humans function and live happily. Relating back to the life cycle, it continues and continues just like motherhood. The mother spreads her love and care and most times this love is reciprocated by her children and others around her or whoever this motherly figure might be. In some cultures, motherhood is even seen as an important symbol throughout history.

A more obvious explanation of motherhood and childbirth is new life and new beginnings, but throughout history many symbols also represented motherhood. One of these symbols was the chalice. The website “Ancient symbols” explains that “The cup symbolizes water, which is a feminine element. The cup resembles a woman’s womb and is therefore considered to be the symbol of the Goddess of the Womb”. Another symbol is a circle, “Being without a beginning or an end, having no breaks or holds, it represents the unending cycle of life and the all-inclusive universe”. Both of these show that even from the beginning of time motherhood and life in general had a special meaning and can be represented by many things.

Therefore even though motherhood may seem as simple as being a mom, it’s much more, and can be attained by anyone willing and caring enough. Motherhood is a gift passed on through many many generations and it’s what helps carry the world. By viewing motherhood as a cycle and looking at how the symbolism from a circle plays in, motherhood will continue to make its rounds and spread the love, support, and care necessary for the world to spin.