Continuing what I said in class, I want to discuss Edna and her children. There's a lot of talk back and forth about whether or not she is a bad mother, whether the children really need her anyway, and so forth. I think that Edna is neglectful of her children and for a while I was thinking that this is unforgivable of her; when a person becomes a parent, male or female, they are responsible for the well being of the child and have to put its health and happiness before their own. I'm not saying that the parents have to sacrifice everything in their lives for the sake of this child, but its concerns do outweigh theirs.
On the other hand, what if the parent (in this case Edna, so I'll just revert to saying "she") didn't want to be a parent and it was forced on them? I absolutely do not want children, and if hypothetically I was forced to take care of an infant I would try to do my best, but I'm pretty sure it would drive me insane. Edna's clearly not the motherly type, but if she didn't have a choice in becoming a mother then I can't really blame her.
Other thoughts?
I think Edna willingly bore her children. However, I would not qualify her as a "bad parent." It is easy to point a finger and blame someone of bad parenting (especially with the parents of the screaming kids in grocery stores), but i think that there is more going on in this story. Most of the evidence of Edna's lack of enthusiasm in parenting is internal. She provides for the children and relatively enjoys being around them. I wouldn't call the children "abused" because I have found the only insufficiency from Edna to be personal, individual, emotional, and mental. Just a thought..
ReplyDeleteI would also have to agree that I think Edna willingly had her children and I also think she acted the way she did to protect her children. She did say that she would die for her children but she would not give up herself and I don't think that qualifies her to be a bad mother, she just isn't like some mothers who make their children their lives. I don't see anything wrong with that.
ReplyDeleteI don't know. It seems to me that she had children because she had to. She became a wife and becoming a mother is just the next step in this case. The children themselves have very little scenes in this movie with their mother, so I don't feel we get a completely good definition one way or the other. The children do have other people to take care of them, so I wonder if they feel neglected as we think they are?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Matt, that she is not necessarily a bad mother. She could have definitely been worse, and she was simply detached, not abusive. Also, i would say she had the children willingly and then had a mid-life crisis causing her to rethink her domestic choices. I am able to have more sympathy for Edna's character if i believe that she entered into her life as a wife and mother not knowing that she would eventually need to escape.
ReplyDeleteI never said she was abusive, I said she was neglectful, which can be almost as damaging. Yes, she says she would die for her children and I believe her, but does she ever show them much affection, or really pay much attention to them at all? Of course she doesn't have to center her entire life on her children, but she mostly seems indifferent to them.
ReplyDeleteGood discussion going on here, folks!
ReplyDelete