The Whispers

Every mother in this text makes significant sacrifices in her own life that result directly from her identity as a mother or her desire to be one. Blair opted to give up her career, finding no emotional room for anything other than motherhood; it was a joyful choice. However, this decision resulted in a kind of social demotion, as she struggles to relate to working mothers: “She was supposed to want it all. And have it all. She wasn’t supposed to let motherhood yank her away” (27). Blair also envies the Loverlys’ marriage, witnessing a closeness that is long gone from hers, the loss of which Blair associates with motherhood. Becoming a mother changed Blair’s body in ways she fears have made her less desirable; it also demands much of her attention, and while Blair enjoys the role, the fact that Aiden doesn’t express gratitude for all Blair does deepens her resentment and the schism in their marriage. However, Blair has become so used to sacrifice that even her anxieties that her life is small and unimportant become a casualty of it. Rather than discuss her “miser[y]” or even acknowledge it fully to herself, she tamps it down because she thinks this is “beneficial for everyone” (14).