We talked about this theme when we watched Aliens(more about that in a minute), I thought about it alot then, and as I have read Deerskin I thought about it again. Deerskin's mother is so wrapped up in the King that she ignores her daughter, is so obsessed with her own beauty she ignores her daughter, and in the end extracts a promise that all but ensure's her equally obsessed husband will most certainly do something horrible to said daughter.
I found it quite horrifying reading the passages that talked about mom, or how Lissar remembered her. How sad that "mom" was so into herself that she just couldn't get past the changes that time wrought in her. I also had to stop and think about how she must have felt after having given birth. Was so apalled at the changes in her body then too? Was that what started her downward spiral into death? So self absorbed and obsessed she was not what anyone would call a "good mother" in fact she was a downright "bad mother" Ossin's mother on the other hand, was all about her children. Seeing them married and well taken care of- and letting her son be what he was, just as she let her daughter.
In Alien's we saw two "women" who were mother's, neither of them could be called bad mother's in the way Lissar's mother could. They were both only doing what comes naturally for each of their species. Lissar's struggle with her pain did however lead her to another, who could be called a "mother" the Moonwoman was in my mind a stand in for the mother she did not have. She gave her all she could to help her-time and the power to take back her life in a way that no other could have done. Magic yes, but also more than that. She helped Lissar heal and in doing so made it possible for her to face her father, the King in the end, and give him his richly deserved end.
It's been far too long~
7 years ago
