The Theme Of Parenting In Deborah Garrison's Sestina For The Working Mother
"Sestina For The Working Mother" by Deborah Garrison and "After Making Love We Hear Footsteps" by Galway Kinnell were the pieces that spoke to me the most. The central theme of these pieces is parenthood. They related to me the most because I am a mother of an 11-month-old. Garrison and Kinnell provide some diverse perspectives on parenting, as there are many different forms of parenting, ranging from family dynamics to which parents are present, as observed all around the world. In both Deborah Garrison's "Sestina For The Working Mother" and Galway Kinnell's "After Making Love We Hear Footsteps," the theme of parenting is explored through the use of tone, imagery, and symbolism.
There are many ways that tone can be made throughout a piece of literature. In "Sestina For The Working Mother" the general tone given is a tired, disappointed, and even ashamed tone. Garrison demonstrates this by simulating an expectation vs. reality event. Lines 23-27 The
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Sometimes in plain sight and sometimes more hidden. Just by how a person acts throughout the day may even be a symbol of how they feel. When Garrison states these lines, “At certain moments, head bent at her desk, she can see her children, / And feels the quick stab. She hasn’t forgotten that she is their mother.” (Garrison, lines 35-36) is a metaphor for the fact that even if you are not with your children, you will always remember them and that you are still their parent even if you are not present physically. The words from "After Making Love We Hear Footsteps" that follow represent how, no matter how big or old your child gets, the memories you establish with them will endure a lifetime “He appears—in his baseball pajamas, it happens/ the neck opening so small/ he has to screw them on, which one day may make him wonder/ about the mental capacity of baseball players” (Kinnell, Lines 12-15) and “this one whom habit of memory propels to the ground of his making” (Kinnell, Line
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