A Mother's Defense

You really ask me why I did this? Why I shot a man who is clearly a murderer and was about to murder my child? Have you ever heard of the eternal love mothers have towards their children no matter what? Once again I had to do what was best for the ones I love. I had to protect my innocent little girl, only 17 years of age. She had no idea of what she put herself into, I had to protect her. And I bet you would have done the same if you and your beloved child had been in the same situation. Do not judge me for something you probably would have done as well. You can judge me after you have been in the same situation and not murdering the one who is about to kill your only child. Think twice before you ask such a dumb question. 

- Karolina Huljic 

BLOG#1- A Mothers Point Of View ( Asope Sokan)

A dead beat he was. What kind of man prides himself on jewels and fallen wives. I knew from the beginning that the man was no good. But how could I stop my young and naive daughter. So easily impressionable was she, so quick to hang onto every word that left his filthy lips. I watched him court her, bribe her heart, and fill her imagination with thoughts only a woman can imagine. I knew that I should have stopped it before it happened, but I like many other women knows that when a woman has made up her mind, that's it. My child was no longer a child, she was a woman, and like other women I had to let her learn on her own. The day my daughter called me, I knew it all. Call it a mother's instinct if you will, or call it good luck. I knew that my girl, my baby was in over her head. I must say that whether or not he was overwhelming her or for God's sake beating her, was a mystery to me, but I did know that she was uncomfortable. I didn't need to think much, before I knew it I was on my way, with one thought in my mind, " If he hurt her, he will die". What I found, I had already expected. I killed the man right away. No amount of jewelry could have made him look anymore than what he was that dreadful day, a devil. I saved my precious girl and her lover, I brought them bravery that only I could have shown them. I did what I had to do, and do I regret it? Hell no.

Daughter's Response

I revert the question back to you, stranger. How could you not marry this man, had he come to you with all the promise of a future, a home, an adventure? How could you not be captivated by that scent that lingered in the air, filling any space he occupied, a scent that, to breathe it in, was to breathe in his very essence? How could you ignore that feeling when your heart skips a precious beat, knowing he has entered the room. The rush that courses through your entire body when the flowers are placed on the piano keys in front of you and you know he has come to give you and only you his full attention and affection. How, stranger, could you resist the jewels, the money, and all the freedoms that accompany the excess of riches?

Had he asked you to marry him, could you have said anything but, "yes?"

Blog 1: A Mother's Defense

When the wedding dress arrived at our home, I looked into my young daughter’s eyes and asked her if she was sure she loved him. When she answered, “I’m sure I want to marry him,” a dreadful feeling came over me. I had married for love and willingly sacrificed a life of luxury. Still, after my beloved soldier never returned from war, I spent the rest of my days in financial hardship. I take responsibility for what happened for I did not stop the wedding in hopes that my instincts were wrong. I wanted my innocent child to experience life influenced by her husband’s wealth. The first phone call I received from my daughter after she was married confirmed that something was wrong. You ask how I, a mother, am able to act in such violence and kill my daughter’s husband. I’d like to ask you whether you have any children; for if you did, you would not question what I had to do. I protected my child the only way I knew how and even though I do not take any pleasure from ending a human life, I do not regret my decision. Someone was bound to die that night so I killed him before he can harm my child. Vilma Bursac

blog 1: A Mother's Response

Would you, nosy stranger, refrain from poking your unwelcome nose into another's business? You, who hasn't raised my daughter, clothed, fed, and comforted her, watched her take her first steps or drift into a peaceful sleep. Who are you to judge me, when I protected her from the vile beast that hid itself in the flesh of a man? Would you have done the same with equal measure of the ferocity of a loving mother protecting her babe? She trusts me to guide and shelter her from harm and I have done so and shall continue to do so without your approval.

Why?

How could I marry this man, so foreign to me? His admiration for me was unmatched by any before. He wanted me, a small and wan girl of only seventeen. How could he chose me after his gorgeous opera singer and the model for a painter. Surely I was not as beautiful, as talented and special. How could I not, after years of poverty and inattention, marry this rich and mysterious man? What an adventure, much like my mother had had so many years ago. Finally I could have my own! To be the mistress of a great household, drenched in jewels and smothered with love! Of course, this must be my destiny, after all, he chose me! His worldliness, his leathery rich smell, the gifts which I was given; and what a beautiful opal ring! I am besotted; of course I will marry my new love!

 

Blog 1: A Mother's View

Why?  That is the question I see in your eyes.  It is accompanied by the horror that, believe me when I say, is too much for me to bear at times.  I would have never dreamed that this is what my life had in store, but sometimes things in life don't end up the way we plan.  To hear my daughter so deeply unhappy and hurting, it cut me to the core.  I had to make it right somehow.  As I gathered my things, I gathered my thoughts.  I would do whatever it took.  It is what mothers do -protecting their children.  She was so young and innocent. Can you look me in the eye and say you would have done things differently for your child?  To see someone that you love so deeply in pain, someone you brought into this world, could you stand there and do nothing?

       Paige Driver

Blog 1 - Prompt 2

Without knowing the face of love, I entered into the arms of matrimony. Like my mother, I had a thirst for striding towards destiny. Hers was the love and loss of my father, and mine was for the luxury and illustrious title of Marquise. I, child indeed, dreamed of that faraway castle when he courted me, of rooms that revealed his soul behind his mask, and whispering walls that told all the secrets he hid away in solitude by the sea. In that castle, hallowed by his ancestral history, I thought I might discover who he was and why he chose me, though I might love him or loathe him. We would be rooted together for life, bonded by flesh, estate, and our own fascinations.

- Jenny Wu

Blog #1 Reasons for Marriage

You ask me why I consented to a marriage with such a man? I do not know the answer myself. Perhaps my vanity was satiated by his obvious admiration of my musicality or my youthful beauty. The many afternoons he spent in my mother’s parlor offering such effusive praises of my concertos and arpeggios told me he had a remarkably fine taste in music, a commonality we shared. Maybe it was an inner thirst to explore the rest of the world, which his rank and wealth would allow. My naiveté and ignorance would have been done away with by his knowledge and experience of the world. Another possibility could be that the allurements of materialism, the jewels, fine clothing, and castle by the ocean, were too much to be resisted. No, I did not love him, and I gradually found myself repelled by his coarse and disgusting manners. But I was also interested by the mystery of his stoic composure. When my eyes were opened to his true nature, I realized that all my reasons for entering marriage with him were idealistic and insubstantial. 

Blog 1- Jeremy Edmonds

1. Why wouldn’t any person react the way I reacted?  It is a mother’s duty to protect their children. No matter how old, what gender, or what race a person is, protecting family is a natural tendency of all of us including women.  Please put yourself in the position of having your child being attacked before you make a judgment about me.  In addition, no man will tell me that I should sit back and watch my daughter be beheaded by an insane creature like Marquis.  His crazy behavior warranted every bit of violence that I incurred upon him especially his death.

-Jeremy Edmonds

Daughters Point of View

A somewhat lonely and sheltered child, I knew only the music my fingers brought to the quiet air so splendidly, my mother’s love, and the bluntness of my old nurse whom I loved dearly. Suddenly I was living a life lead by nothing less of royalty, I went places I never dreamt possible, and laid mine eyes on sights well beyond my imagination. Experiences once far beyond my reach were now loosely held in the palm of my hand. A man full of mystery and excitement, with the stare of a fallen man, had thrown a blanket of lavish wonder over my world. The thought of a life lived in this manner enthralled me and blinded me even to myself. I grew a feeling so strong… love? This form of existence must be mine till my departure… Yes, this man, this power, it would be mine… He had chosen me and I could not dispute him. 

-Noah Nava

Blog 1 - My Defense

My seventeen year old daughter does not cry out in joy, and she surely does not call me to express that tearful moment over golden taps. When that phone call ended, I knew she was not safe, and truly unhappy. Call it my motherly intuition but she needed me, so I took no time in rushing to get to her.

            I packed my pistol, purely for safety, as I was a woman traveling across the country alone. It was never far from my reach. However, upon my arrival at the castle I was truly overjoyed to have it so close. For my witness to the sword in his hand – ready to kill, and the sacrificial attire on my daughter, I knew I had no choice.

            I was eighteen again, he was the tiger and I had my pistol. In order to save us all from his man-eating ways, and the evil in his eyes, I took aim, and fired. There are no regrets to have over his death, my daughter is safe. I did what I had to do, to make sure my family survived. 

- Meghan Shearer 

Blog 1 - A Mother's Reply

You roam around,

You wonder, you ask,

How it’s possible a mother, a woman,

Was allowed to shoot

Her magnanimous son-in-law.

Well let me tell you,

Yes, indeed,

It’s an ugly truth

That will stop you

From trying to shame me.

Here’s the back story then:

My daughter, only 17

Without knowing better,

Let herself be deceived—

By appearances, by ideas,

By comfort, and false love.

She up and left

Without heeding my advice;

She was blinded and fooled

By the hope of finally living

A luxurious, love-filled life.

Oh the brute! She broke my heart.

But I knew I was right,

When she called and cried.

What can I say,

I’m a mother, a woman after all.

I’m  emotional, impulsive,

Sensitive and that’s all—

Or at least you think so.

But you see I knew,

That man wasn’t right,

We women, they say

Are supposed to stay at home,

But this time I ventured out,

For I knew all could go wrong.

When I reached the house,

My head and heart

Finally concurred.

My daughter was in danger,

And saving her,

Only I could.

I saw the sword

Lifted and aligned,

Ready to blow, to struck,

To cut through her,

Clean and hard.

So my reaction—

The one that you despise,

The one so wrong

You can’t wrap your head around—

It came out of love,

Of desperation, of hope.

It came from that part within me

That only women know

How to understand and explore.

Criticize and judge

All that you want,

I saved my life,

My daughter’s and a man’s.

You say we don’t deserve

To live in this house,

Gold-diggers and whatnot,

Well here’s my reply:

He murdered, mutilated

Women for fun.

We’ve been told we should be

Docile and always at home,

Well now you know

Why venturing out is good,

Women, emotional and passionate

As they are,

Have the instinct, the head, the heart,

To kill, not for fun,

But for life.

First blog post, due 5 pm, Monday, Jan. 27 (5 points, 100-150 words)

Choose one possibility. Feel free to touch base with any of the ideas or texts we've discussed so far.

1. Someone has heard about the story narrated in "The Bloody Chamber" and is horrified: how could you (the mother), a woman, react so violently? Write a response from the position of the mother defending your bad behavior.

2. This same nosy person asks the daughter how  on earth she could marry this man. Explain why you chose him, or allowed yourself to be chosen by you.