First Thanksgiving

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The mother child bond is one that is formed between a mother and child moments after they are born. There is an ongoing want and desire from the mother to always be able to protect their children no matter what comes their way and guide them through life’s ups and downs in the easiest possible way. The mothers that are shown in the poems “First Thanksgiving” and “Still Life in Landscape” by Sharon Olds are trying to protect their children from the realities of the world and also guide them towards their independence as adults.
The setting of the “First Thanksgiving” revolves around an apartment. The home seems to be a place that the mother and daughter have lived in for many years as the mother talks about the daughter being behind the door …show more content…
The daughter seems very independent and must not have come home often as the mother shows that this first thanksgiving that she has been away. There is a sense of happiness throughout the poem as not only is the mother happy that the daughter is home, but that she is happy that she got to guide her through life. The happy relaxed setting of “First Thanksgiving” is a complete contrary to the setting of “Still Life in Landscape”. The poem takes place on a highway on a dark night. There are bodies with bones sticking out. There was no happiness in the environment and the mother wanted to protect the child from the scenes of the accident that had occurred. The settings of these two poems are as different as night and day and yet, they are both about mothers and protecting and guiding their children. The mother in “First Thanksgiving” refers to the bees that she remembered catching as a child and how she would toss them …show more content…
“First Thanksgiving” the mother cannot wait for her daughter to come home from college and be under the same roof again. She has longed to take care of her and guide her through life again. The daughter has gained her wings, like the bees, while being away and the mother realizes that her need to guide her daughter through life is no longer needed. The daughter “doesn’t need love like that, she has had it.” (Olds) The mother will relish in the time that her daughter is home and in her room so that she can guide her through life and give her love because eventually she won’t need the guidance because she will be on her own again. The mother in the “Still Life in Landscape” poem is trying to protect her child from the realities of the world. What is surprising about her covering the child’s face from looking at the woman’s body in the road is that the child has already experienced the realities of the world. The child’s father has an alcohol problem and because of it the child and family has already been through many trials and tribulations that come with having an alcoholic in the family. A mother’s job is to protect a child from bad things and the mother seems to be trying to do that for the child but missing the mark when dealing with the father. Both mothers have a desire to protect and guide their children’s future; one just seems to have a better
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