Text Analysis of My Mothers Hands by Robert Fontaine

There is little information regarding Robert Fountain. The year of his birth is unknown but it is said that he died in 1965.He spent his childhood in Ottawas Lower Town and later became a writer of short stories and plays that turned out to be popular in the 1940s. Later one of his stories, The Happy Time turned into a movie with the same name. In the text in question we can identify some important themes, such as: love, relationships between couples and arguments in the family. With their help is illustrated the main idea of the story: even after 50 years of marriage the spouses still love each other deeply. There can be outlined one major conflict that took place between the parents of the narrator. They were arguing on a subject that took place a long time ago and both were too stubborn to admit that one of them was wrong. The details from the text that caught my attention were the descriptions about love. The narrator thought that it was impossible to find something new in the person you care about, even after a long marriage but his parents proved him wrong. Although, they didnt show it to the outside world their love was strong and that is what kept them together for such a long time. The title of the story isnt suggestive because it makes us think that the story will be about a mother and the hard work she had done for her family and how all this reflected on her hands. Even though, this idea is expressed in the text the subject of the story is completely different but there is still a situation where mothers hands are mentioned. After their fight, the husband returned home bringing his wife a bottle of lotion for her , they were gnarled and the veins are prominent and they are rough from years of work. To my father, though, they must have been the hands of a young woman he loved, a woman who had stayed for a long time in his heart as precisely the same woman The beginning of the story is very interesting. It serves as the opening of the text and shows the authors view about love between people. He doesnt believe that after a long time of being married some people still love each other unconditionally. He offers as an example his own family where he cant find that spark that some talk about. The ending is related to the beginning because there is expressed the same idea. The author finally understands that his parents have a special relationship too. They care for each other and although they dont show it their feelings run deep. It can be considered as the denoument because we are told how the conflict of the story has been solved. The text in question has a closed plot structure because the ending is perfectly outlined and the reader doesnt have to guess it. The author uses narration intercepted with dialogue to show the sequence of the actions that took place. The fight between the parents represents the climax of the story after which the narrator describes the state of his mother after the sudden departure of her husband. First She had wilted a little and looked gloomy. Afterwards, the author describes her as being

wistful and lone some like a girl at her first quarrel. Then, she would square her shoulders, and say suddenly, Ill fix him. Then she would slump and weep some more. All these sad feelings show that mother cared a lot about her husband and worried about him. The relationship between the narrator and the characters is a thigh one, not only because the first persons point of view is used but also because we can imagine this is about his own family and the relationship of his parents, I would visit my father and mother every day in their small apartment. His sympathy lies with the people that unconditionally love each other and managed to preserve this type of feelings even after 50 years of marriage. The author doesnt mention the time or place of action. However, there is a small clue that leads us to the conclusion that maybe the events happen in New York, Yet one morning I came on my usual call, bringing a New York paper The atmosphere can be described a s tense after the climax and as cheerful and peaceful at the end. There arent used many stylistic devices just a few comparisons to describe how important mothers hand were for her husband, To my father, though, they must have been the hands of a young woman he loved, a woman who had stayed for a long time in his heart as precisely the same woman The vocabulary used is in harmony with the theme and situations describes. It is colloquial and easy for the reader to understand. In my opinion, this is a great story that supports the idea of unconditional love that lasts through time. This is not only the main theme of the text but also a frequent discussed one between people of different ages. Everyone searches for his perfect match that will share their love and keep alive the spark that, possibly, brought them together in the first place.