Mother

The mother is a main character in the novel, the protagonist, and is the narrator of the story. The mother is indirectly characterized as “dense and gormless” (38) by Nikolai and his brother. The mother likens herself to Winnie-the-Pooh—not because she truly is, but because, as she states, “what’s wrong. . .with acting slow and dull if it makes people look away, or even, if they look, they can’t see me, or only see me as a hapless bear with very little brain” (39)? While Nikolai calls this hypocritical, the mother’s desire to disappear is firmly rooted. She says it is to avoid suffering, and Nikolai convinces her to drop the habit; readers will need to trust it is possible for her to remove an ingrained habit as if a lightswitch. Despite her lumbering persona, the mother contains extraordinary willpower. She remembers turning ten and making “a...