Bourgeois easily explained Maman’s appeal: “The Spider is an ode to my mother. She was my best friend. Like a spider, my mother was a weaver. . . . Like spiders, my mother was very clever. Spiders are friendly presences that eat mosquitoes. We know that mosquitoes spread diseases and are therefore unwanted. So, spiders are helpful and protective, just like my mother.” Spiders are like mothers, at least Bourgeois’s mother. They are also like artists, weaving, creating, repairing. In that way, Bourgeois is a kind of Maman, too, a benevolent mother for us all.
