Book Characters Who Have Nurtured Me Like A Mother

This Mother’s Day I wanted to pay a special tribute to all the book characters I’ve had the pleasure of meeting who have exuded a maternal presence during my reading experience and have stuck with me, guiding me on my journey to adulthood. It is often widely discussed which book characters we feel are our friends but I rarely, if ever, hear my fellow readers conversing over which book characters they felt strong mother energy from.

Before I get into it I’m going to drop a quick disclaimer; more characters than this have touched me on an emotional, lasting level. The following are purely the ones I feel have made their maternal mark on my psyche.

 

Meet my fictional mothers:

 

Miss Honey (Mathilda, Roald Dahl)

 

Miss Honey to me, despite not actually having any of her own children at least in the traditional, biological sense, is the ultimate mum of the fiction world. She is warm beyond belief, consistently encouraging and incomparably kind with her gentle nature. Miss Honey is the archetypal mother society tells us we should be but better because Roald Dahl reveals to us readers a privilege which extends beyond knowing her, meeting her flaws. As Mathilda is not of the same blood as Miss Honey, she gets the privilege of forming a special hybrid bond with her which sits somewhere in between a combination of big sister, best friend and mother- they make up an entire family for each other. This allows for Miss Honey to reveal her lack of strength to the protagonist and her fear for the Trunchbull, an enemy feared across the globe. For me, it is in witnessing Miss Honey open up about her insecurities in her own lack of strength, a quality the incredible Mathilda has an abundance of, that the true magic of Miss Honey lies. When I think of a quintessentially good character, I always immediately think of Miss Honey. Like millions, I grew up adoring this book and I mean, come on, who wouldn’t want to roller skate in the house?

 

Molly Weasley (Harry Potter, J. K Rowling)

 

In Molly Weasley we see many different sides to motherhood making it evident how complex this role can be. From sending Harry a personalised jumper during his first Christmas at Hogwarts to sending Ron that vicious Howler in the post. Molly is equal parts warm and savage and, extends these qualities beyond the bounds of her blood related family to Harry, Hermione and essentially the entire wizarding world (the good ones at least). Somehow, through Rowling’s characterisation of Molly, she makes the reader feel like Mrs Weasley will jump out of the page and mother you too. If I ever have the honour of becoming a mother one day, I hope I’m able to strike this balance between sweet and savage that Molly has…as well as the ability to flick between the two at the flick of a mental switch. Everyone wants to be protected by Mrs Weasley. Watch out, you could be receiving a knitted jumper this Christmas with your initial on it.

 

 Violet Baudelaire (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Lemony Snicket)

Whist some may think of Violet as the ideal big sister, her unparalleled strength in the face of the colossal adversities she must face is an admirable strength I see in my own mother and in many others. Mothers are forces to be reckoned with, they are on their own level of ferocious if prodded. For me, she embodies the Shakespeare quote ‘and though she be but little, she is fierce’ especially in her guarding of her siblings Sunny and Klaus, a role where she undeniably steps past the sister boundary into the realm of the maternal. Violet is for sure a character I relate to on this level and so she has shaped me, giving me strength at times when I didn’t know I had any left.

 

In writing this blog post it has become clear to me that a lot of literature or at least a lot of the literature I have read so far in my life lacks positive mother figures. Two thirds of the mothers on this list are not actually mothers which makes me question why books lack this positive healthy mother-daughter or mother-son bond. I’m unsure if maybe it isn’t a trend in the publishing industry purely because it doesn’t sell, or writers feel other issues are of greater importance. On behalf of young readers out there I would really love to see more positive mother figures be present in fictional narratives. Books are we find adventure yes but, they are also where we find ourselves and this journey is made much tougher if we feel we do not have mother like figures to rely on, trust and aspire to be like. It is my ambition in life to work in the publishing industry and I sincerely hope one day I am able to acquire or commission a title with a wonderful yet attainable mother figure who will unconditionally support the characters in the text.