William Rice’s Reviews > The Mothers > Status Update

I think the fact that the author keeps bringing up "baby" is symbolism for the life Nadia would've had if she hadn't had an abortion. Nadia would have been stuck at home for the rest of her life and would not be able to get a good job. Instead, Nadia had the abortion and now she can accomplish all of her dreams because she went to college. I believe "baby" symbolizes what would happen if Nadia hadn't gone to school.

As I was reading I noticed that the author devoted an entire paragraph to a moth fluttering around the doctors office. I believe the author writes so much about the moth because it symbolizes Aubrey's vision of Nadia. Aubrey thinks Nadia drifts around and can get anyone or anything she wants if she really wants it. Similar to the moth drifting around the room. In reality Nadia has many issues of her own.

The death of Nadia's father caught me by surprise and reminded me of the Reluctant Fundamentalist when Erica is at the institute for her health. Nadia can go see her dad again but she has no way of helping him get better. Similarly, Changez in the Reluctant Fundamentalist can go to Erica all he wants but he has no way of making her better. He can not change someone who has already died.

When Luke got jumped I was very surprised. I was not expecting the Cobras to jump him when all he did was talk to Cherry. Luke getting jumped is similar to the attacks on Nine Eleven in The Reluctant Fundamentalist. In both books they had a major setback and now they are going to have to find a way to live through it. The only difference is that Changez could "escape" from his setback (America).

On page 113 it talks about how Nadia is noticing subtle acts of racism from her peers at college. I think some of the things she lists such as longer waits for tables and the boy who told her she was pretty for a black girl were racist. Other things such as white girls expecting her to walk in the slush could happen to anyone. I think there are some points in the book when she is expecting people to be racist.

I believe there is a distinct possibility that Aubrey is not a real person. I think she could be a part of Nadia's mind that is helping her be a better person. I think instead of her dad telling jokes at dinner because of Aubrey it is because Nadia has started to change. The part of Nadia's brain that is Aubrey could also have made her more appealing to Luke's mother and made her like Nadia a little bit more.

At the start of the book Nadia is portrayed as a reckless girl who sleeps with a different guy every night. As the story continues though, we get to know her and realize that she is more innocent than we first thought. If Nadia's mother hadn't killed herself Nadia might not have gone to the strip club or started a relationship with Luke. Also if her dad was more caring she might not have become so unstable.

When I started reading this book I was intrigued by the format in which it is written. It is told as if multiple people are telling a story but we don't know who. On the first page it says "we didn't believe when we first heard". There are many other phrases like this one throughout the book. This enables the author to give us someones perspective without going in depth about the character describing the events.