The mother-women seemed to prevail that summer at Grand Isle. It was easy to know them, fluttering about with extended, protecting wings when any harm, real or imaginary, threatened their precious brood. They were women who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the selfless nature of mothers who prioritize their families above all else.
In this quote, Kate Chopin describes the essence of motherhood during a summer at Grand Isle, portraying mothers as protective figures who put their children's needs above their own. The imagery of 'fluttering about with extended, protecting wings' suggests that these women not only cherish their roles as mothers and wives but also find a sense of fulfillment in their self-sacrifice, embodying a nurturing spirit akin to that of 'ministering angels.' This depiction invites readers to reflect on the societal expectations placed on women in familial roles and their personal identities.
In practice
In a speech about family values, one could use this quote to emphasize the importance of selflessness in parenting.
She looked into the distance, and the old terror flamed up for an instant, then sank again. Edna heard her father's voice and her sister Margaret's. She heard the barking of an old dog that was chained to the sycamore tree. The spurs of the cavalry officer clanged as he walked across the porch. There was the hum of bees, and the musky odor of pinks filled the air. (last lines)
There were days when she was unhappy, she did not know why,--when it did not seem worthwhile to be glad or sorry, to be alive or dead; when life appeared to her like a grotesque pandemonium and humanity like worms struggling blindly toward inevitable annihilation.
She's got some sort of notion in her head concerning the eternal rights of women.
Well, for instance, when I left her today, she put her arms around me and felt my shoulder blades, to see if my wings were strong, she said.
I would give up the unessential; I would give my money, I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn't give myself.
There would be no one there to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistance with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature. A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination.
I think you are who you are, and your kids will see who you are. So you'd better be a good person, because they are going to see it, and that's going to shape them. They are going to become you.
I doubt that we can ever successfully impose values or attitudes or behaviors on our children certainly not by threat, guilt, or punishment. But I do believe they can be induced through relationships where parents and children are growing together. Such relationships are, I believe, build on trust, example, talk, and caring.
Life Insurance trusts I consider sacred. To hazard the property of the dead & to lose the scanty earnings of fathers & husbands, who have toiled & saved that they may leave something to their families deprived of their care & the support of their labour, is to my mind the worst of crimes.
For this my mother wrapped me warm,_x000D_ _x000D_ And called me home against the storm,_x000D_ _x000D_ And coaxed my infant nights to quiet,_x000D_ _x000D_ And gave me roughage in my diet,_x000D_ _x000D_ And tucked me in my bed at eight,_x000D_ _x000D_ And clipped my hair, and marked my weight,_x000D_ _x000D_ And watched me as I sat and stood:_x000D_ _x000D_ That I might grow to womanhood_x000D_ _x000D_ To hear a whistle and drop my wits_x000D_ _x000D_ And break my heart to clattering bits.
Every time I was playing basketball, I felt sick to my stomach. I didn't realize that feeling was having to leave my family - having to leave my sister, who can't even communicate with me when I'm gone.
In my early teens, I acquired a kind of representative status: went on behalf of the family to wakes and funerals and so on. And I would be counted on as an adult contributor when it came to farm work - the hay in the summertime, for example.
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