Mother, by Sherwood Anderson Short Story Analysis (Essay Example)

In the collection of short stories, Winesburg Ohio, the story, Mother, by Sherwood Anderson, gives readers a glimpse of the dysfunctional Willard family dynamics. Elizabeth and Tom Willard are unhappily married, each with their own ideas of success for their son, George. In the short story Mother, Sherwood Anderson demonstrates that Elizabeth Willard’s parenting style is a reflection of her own past experiences and current state of unhappiness and loneliness. Anderson argues that differing parenting styles are the result of the individual parent’s unique life experiences.  

The story begins with forty five year old Elizabeth Willard drudging around while doing maid’s work in the hotel that she inherited from her parents. Elizabeth is alone and depressed.  She appears defeated, and even her own husband distances himself from her, “fearing that the spirit of the hotel and of the woman would follow him even into the streets” (43). Elizabeth has become an individual that others stay away from, scared that her negativity will spread to them. However, she was not always this way, but, “some obscure disease had taken the fire out of her figure” (42). Elizabeth was once a girl full of fiery passion until she endured something in her life that drove her to let go of her dreams and become hopeless. 

The story flashes back to a time in Elizabeth ’s life when she was struggling to find her sense of self. At that time, Elizabeth was restless and desired significant changes in her life so she dreamed of becoming an actress. She developed the reputation of being “stage-struck” (52) and the town’s people looked down on her. She was passionate about joining the theater, yet, when she attempted to share her excitement with traveling theater groups passing through Winesburg, they did not understand or relate to her. They replied, “‘It’s not like that…it’s as dull and uninteresting as this here. Nothing comes of it” (53). Not only was Elizabeth unable to fulfill her dreams, but she was also being told that her fantasies were imaginative and false. In the flashback, she also describes casual sexual encounters with the men visiting Winesberg. She describes each interaction the same, “beginning with kisses, and ending, after strange wild emotions, with peace and then sobbing repentance” (53).  When she cried from regret, “she thought he had become suddenly a little boy…and wondered why he did not sob also” (53). Elizabeth understood that these encounters filled a void of loneliness for a short period of time but ultimately did not offer long term happiness. She was desperate for companionship. She wanted a real man, one who is not satisfied by these hookups. However, she settled and married one of these men and as a result, she was not happy about her marriage. 

The one thing that keeps Elizabeth going in her desolate life, is her son, George. They have a “deep unexpressed bond of sympathy, based on a girlhood dream that had long ago died” (44). Elizabeth laments her sorrowful life and finds herself thinking about her past while raising George. Without his knowledge, Elizabeth spends excessive amounts of time in George’s room. On one occasion she even performs a “ceremony that [is] half a prayer, half a demand” where she “yearn[s] to see something half forgotten that had once been a part of herself recreated” (44). Elizabeth attempts to use George as a vessel to bring back the passion that she now lacks. She is determined to prevent George from becoming “a meaningless drab figure like [herself]” and is determined to provide an opportunity for George to “express something for [them] both” (44-45). Although it seems as though Elizabeth is a caring mother who has the greatest intentions for her son, she adds to her prayer, “and do not let him become smart and successful either” (45). Evidence of Elizabeth’s selfish and controlling nature emerges here. She does not truly want what is best for George, instead she wants to create the version of herself that she was not able to achieve, regardless of what George actually wants. She spies on him, taking joy from moments where she witnesses George “trying to find himself”; talking to himself. She believes “within him there is a secret something that is striving to grow” (49). She views this as an opportunity to nurture a passion within that she “let be killed in [herself]” (49).

Elizabeth is so desperate for George to become an individual who chases after his dreams, instead of giving up like she did. When she overhears a conversation between Tom and George, where Tom is yelling at George about his future, she is furious because he is expressing a different view of success to George, and “a definite determination had come into [her] mind” (51). She believes that Tom is encouraging George to suppress his passion and focus on monetary success, something she will do anything to prevent from happening. She is so angry about the  “understanding [that now] exist[s] between [George and Tom]” that her hatred for Tom grows and she plots to kill him, removing the obstacle that stands in the way of her desired life for George (51). When she picks up the scissors she is going to use to kill him, she says, “‘he has chosen to be the voice of evil and I will kill him. When I have killed him something will snap within myself and I will die also. It will be a release for all of us’” (52). Elizabeth’s version of good in the world is the person who she strived to be, someone who pursues their passions, regardless of any barriers that may arise. She is so blinded by this desire that she will make sure that everything in the way is gotten rid of. She just wants to see George follow his dream, something that she could not do, so she is willing to sacrifice her life and others, knowing that she will be satisfied when that is accomplished. 

Based on their own life experiences, parents choose among many different parenting styles to help their children achieve their hopes and dreams. Sometimes, parents choose a controlling method in order to assure a particular outcome for their children. In Mother, Sherwood Anderson describes how Elizabeth Willard raises George in a controlling manner so that he does not end up living the same unfulfilled and miserable life that she lives. While trying to control George’s life because she is terrified of George ending up like her, Elizabeth almost causes more harm than good. Specifically, she plots to kill Tom simply because she disagrees with the advice he gives George and she wants to be George’s sole influence. Even when controlling parents believe they have their children’s best interests at heart, they may be so consumed with what they believe is the best method to achieve success that they do not think about how they can potentially be hurting their children.