Let's talk about books- Mother by Maxim Gorky

Hey all! 

The book I'll be talking about today is my all time favorite. I've read this book at least 20 times. I don't know why but reading it steadies me. The book is Mother by Maxim Gorky. 

Mother is set in the pre- Russian revolution era. This book is based on two real incidents- the May day demonstration of factory workers of Sormovo in 1902 and their trials. 

Mother gives us a clear look into the lives of the then working class. The book is a story about the Pelagea Nilovna (the Mother) and her struggle of coming to terms with her son being a revolutionary and then helping his cause. 

At the starting, Mother is no different that the other women in the factory settlement- living a life of hardship, poverty, and experiencing abuse from their husbands. Her life starts changing slowly when her husband dies. Her son Pavel starts working in the factory. He also tries to go down the same route other men and boys of the settlement go- drinking their days off and meaning violence to blow off steam. But for some reason, his being does not seem to agree with it. Mother notices Pavel not drinking and losing contact with the men he grew up with. On one hand it makes her glad that her son is not a part of this toxicity but on the other hand she is afraid of where he is going and what he doing.

We get a glimpse of Mother's strength and courage when Pavel tells her that he will be having a meeting with "dangerous revolutionaries" at their home. Mother asks Pavel what is it that makes these people and the books they read "illegal", Pavel tells her that it is the truth in these books that the government does not want them to know. Though scared, Mother prepares for their meeting. During the meeting she finds out that all the "dangerous people" were in fact young men and women, zealous about a cause. She meets Andrey Nakhodka and Natasha that day and immediately feels love and protectiveness for them. She is horrified to find that Natasha is a wealthy landlord's daughter and has been disowned because of her closeness to this "movement". 

Her fears are alleviated as she begins to learn more about their cause from their meetings. Mother's struggle with her feelings of wanting her son to be safe, not being able to get through to her son and then her acceptance of the movement and willingness to take great risks to keep the movement going is absolutely worth reading.

One more incident that shows Mother's gumption early on is when Pavel and Andrey are arrested for distributing illegal pamphlets at the work. With no one to distribute the pamphlets now, Mother takes up the responsibility. She starts selling lunch at the factory and takes pamphlets with her. Her glee at outwitting the guards and being useful to the movement is heartwarming.

This book is filled a bunch of strong female characters. Each of those display their strengths in their own ways. We already know about Pelagea Nilovna and Natasha. One more woman is Sashenka aka Sasha. She is love with Pavel and is a fellow socialist activist as well. She has a strong personality. When arrested for participating in anti-tsarist activities, she is insulted by a prison warden in prison. She goes on a hunger fast and does not eat anything for 8 days until the warden apologizes. She tells mother "You cannot let people take advantage of you." Mother, earlier who is suspicious of Sasha, begins to respect her more after this. A few other notable women like Ludmilla and Sophia. 

After Pavel others are imprisoned a May Day protest parade, Mother leaves the settlement and travels with other women doing her share for the revolution. though soft-spoken and timid at the beginning, she hits the nail on it's head whenever she talks. She visits various other smaller settlements with books and pamphlets and educates others about their cause. She grows to be loved and respected by other revolutionaries as well. Pavel is sentenced to exile with the others, he gives a heartfelt speech in the court room. The revolutionaries decide to print his speech and distribute it so the other people know what he spoke of.  

Mother is caught and killed by the gemdarmes (police) when she smuggling the printed copies of the speech to others.There is a quote by Mothr herself that stayed with me all through the book and it defines her character and actions too well-

     "If our children, the dearest parts of our hearts, can give their lives and their freedom, dying without a thought for themselves, what ought I to do, a mother..."

I would recommend this book to everyone, especially the ones who want a fresh view of strong female characters. I'll sign off with another one of my favorite quotes from the book-

        "Not even an ocean of blood can drown the truth."`