comment on theme

The relationship between a mother and her child is one of the novel’s central themes. In the narrative, there are different types of mother/child relationships. The biological connection, in which the child is actually born of the mother exists between Naomi / Mattie, Mattie / Samuel, Mattie / Jordan, and Ann / Lisbeth. There is also a non-biological relationship, in which the child is not born to the woman who fulfills the role of “mother.” The Mattie / Lisbeth relationship is the most notable example of this kind of relationship.