Compare and Contrast their attitudes towards motherhood, proposing why Essay

Compare and Contrast their attitudes towards motherhood, proposing why the differences and similarities exist - Essay Example She is shown as having love for her children but her abortions are quite ironic. The poem talks about a mother who is no mother (Grimes 2007). The attitude towards motherhood and children is quite loving but the act of abortion indicates that the mother never wants her children. She considers it a crime that indicates that she is fully aware of her act of abortion. From Atwood’s narration, it appears that both the women are one and have the same body (Tyler 1982). Jeannie is the protagonist of the short story and she is the would-be mother. The attitude towards motherhood is not given as it is something pleasant and wanted but something that has been imposed on the woman. The mother is shown as suffering. It is shown that mothers have a painful duty to perform in child birth and that’s all. The mother of â€Å"The Mother† never gives birth to a child but loves her children in her fantasy while the mother in â€Å"Giving Birth† gives birth to a child but shows a little concern towards the child and considers herself in a divided personality. Tyler, Anne. The Complexities of Ordinary Life: The Dancing Girls and Other Stories by Margaret Atwood. 1982. Retrieved on 9th February 2009 from