Motherhood

Motherhood is the most prominent and important theme in the novel and is directly tied to the narrator’s journey, as the further she goes on her journey, the further she learns what it is to be a mother. At the beginning of the novel, the narrator believes that she is not capable of being a mother and, in fact, has no interest in taking care of any children. However, through flashbacks and internal monologue, it becomes clear that the narrator does not have any experience working with children. Essentially, in a way, the narrator does not understand what it means to be a mother. It is also implied that the narrator’s childhood sexual abuse may have something to do with her attitudes towards children (see the section on Trauma). The refusal to become a mother is also one of the primary reasons that Thorsteinn...