With Mothers day (May 13th) in just one day, it is the time of commemoration and celebration of Mom.
Maxim Gorky’s ‘Mother’ is one of my favorite books which I re-read recently.
Here is why I like this book : “
’’In the evening, when the sun was setting and red rays languidly glimmered upon the windows of the houses , the factory ejected its people like burned-out ashes , and again they walked through the streets , with black, smoke covered faces, radiating the sticky odor of machine oil, and showing the gleam of hungry teeth, but now there is animation in their voices , and even gladness.
The servitude of hard toil was over for the day. Supper awaited them at home , and respite ’’
” Mother, Maxim Gorky, pg1.
Gorky made his reputation as a teller of “down-and-out” tales, describing the dregs of society in his works. When Gorky wrote about the travails of the lower classes, he spoke from experience. He himself had worked in a series of menial jobs earlier in life which served as the models for several of his stories.
Mother was based on actual events: a demonstration by factory workers near Nizhni Novgorod. The “mother” is Pelageya Nilovna, widow of a boorish factory worker, and the action in the novel is generally seen through her eyes. Her son, Pavel Vlassov, is the leader of a Social Democratic circle among the workers. The first part of the book describes the mother’s increasing affinity with the ideology of her son and the radical group which gathers at their house. Nilovna’s love for her son and the force of his ideas convinces her to support the revolutionary cause.
The second part of the book takes place after Pavel is arrested for leading a May Day demonstration, and the mother goes to live with a fellow revolutionary. She volunteers to smuggle radical booklets into the factory and to peasants in the countryside, becoming a full-fledged member of the radical group.
In the end, Pavel is tried and sentenced to exile in Siberia for his actions. The novel closes with Nilovna being beaten to death by police while attempting to smuggle copies of her son’s defense speech.
The moral character and support Gorky extended for the revolution was manifested in “The Mother”. She became representative mother country calling and supporting her children fighting for their rights.
In the workers township men work till their bodies are completely tired, drink and beat up their wives and children to sublimate their frustration - Mother represent the life of working class people in soviet union.
The events created and the detailed explanation of the backdrop in which the events occur represents creative and poetic story telling capabilities of Gorky. By the example of his work and life and by his literary critcism Gorky exerted a profound influence on Soviet thought .
As Russia once again confronts tremendous social turbulence, the lessons of the early part of this century are particularly informative. In an era when an absurd playwright can become the President of a newly-democratized Eastern European nation, we cannot afford to overlook the value of literature in influencing perceptual patterns and official policies. Gorky responded to perceived injustices in the society, and yet his work can be interpreted as prescriptive rather than purely reactive.
Literature represents much more than a pristine chronicle of a particular time and place, it occupies a unique position at the nexus of past and future realities.
If you like serious literature , and want to read how to potray the social history in a contemporary literary work –this is the best book to read.