Theme / Central Idea of the Lesson.

Analysis of My Mother at Sixty-Six

Theme
‘My Mother at Sixty Six’ captures the fear of the narrator of losing her mother
due to declining health and loss of energy which accompanies old age. The
poet accepts this reality and is disturbed by her mother’s need for her on one
hand and her own duties and responsibilities on the other hand. This
helplessness is poignantly brought out in this poem. The emotions experienced
by the poet are essentially universal in nature. The fear of losing a loved one is
a theme the reader can identify with. Form This poem is in the form of a
narrative of fourteen lines written as a single sentence. This is called
enjambment. The poem is written in a single sentence punctuated by commas.
This highlights the stream of consciousness effect where one thought leads to
another.
Theme (2)
My Mother at Sixty-six is based on the theme of advancing age and the fear of
loss and separation associated with it. The poetess undergoes a plethora of
emotions when she sees her mother ageing, and feels the pangs of separation
at the thought of losing her. She must be feeling guilty of not being able to stay
with her mother in her old age. She also wishes for the lost beauty and youth of
her mother. The poem is written in a single sentence which indicates the single
thread of thought, i.e. the loss of beauty and charm and approaching death and
decay.
Significance of the Title – My Mother at Sixty-Six
Appropriateness of the Title
The title is apt as the poem is about the narrator’s realisation that time has flown
by and old age has crept up on her mother. The poem revolves around the
theme of advancing age, the fear associated with it, and loss and separation.
Message
Ageing is a natural process and it will affect each one of us. The complexity
of life is that children are perturbed by the condition of their parents and wish to
be with them. However, they have to leave their parents behind and move on
with their commitments. The question arises how to strike a balance between
looking after the ageing parents and attending to our duties and responsibilities.
Poetic Devices
• The imagery used in the poem is suggestive of both death and youth. The image
of `young trees and merry children’ are a contrast to the mother.
• The poetic devices used are simile, metaphor, repetition and personification:
Simile — face ashen like a corpse, as a late winter’s moon.
 Personification — trees sprinting
Repetition — smile and smile and smile
Metaphor — children spilling
Poetic Devices
Simile
1. Her face ashen like that of a corpse: poet sees mother dozing off with her mouth
open, almost like a corpse — it seems to have lost all vitality — the grey colour
of ash is usually associated with a dead body – triggers the pain of losing her
mother who is close to death.
2. Wan, pale as a late winter moon: reinforces the idea that the mother’s face was
pale and lifeless like that of a fading winter moon. Winter is symbolic of the last
cycle of the season — hence waning moon-mother’s frail health misted by age
is indicative of imminent death.
Poet resorts to escapism to avoid the harsh realities that stare her in the face-
dispels the horrifying thoughts by diverting her attention to the images of the
young trees and merry children.
Imagery
Merry children spilling out of their homes: youthful and exuberant, spring of life-
contrast to the morbid atmosphere inside the car – the old mother weak, frail,
inactive.
Personification
Young trees sprinting – the sprinting movement of the trees rushing past signify
youth, life or passage of time. The mother – travelling in the car-lifeless,
helpless decayed by age. Her instinctive awareness leads to the familiar ache-
painful realization of helplessness (cannot share her fears with her mother-fear
stemmed out of unknown-didn’t want to worry her)-fear of separation-that
childhood fear-inherent in all children-of losing one’s loved ones-fear of death.
Repetition
Smile and smile and smile: emphasis on the fact that she made a desperate
effort to cover UP her guilt, anxiety and agonizing thought of her mother’s
impending death by putting up a smile to bid her a cheerful adieu.
CHAPTER NUTSHELL
• Genre: Poetry (Through Narration)
The universality of the Theme
The theme of inescapable decay, a presentiment of emotional susceptibility
leading to terrible fear of death, separation-isolation. The daughter’s feelings
and concern are portrayed in a sensitive manner. One of the many childhood
fears that distressed her was the fear of her mother’s death.
Stanza 1
Poem enumerates:
1. pain and anguish felt by the poet.
2. on seeing her ageing mother sitting in the car.
3. on her way — airport.
4. dozing — mouth open — visage pale, ashen, lifeless like that of a corpse
5. dismay — insecurity — triggered childhood fear.
stanza 2
Escapism-looks outside-car-to-put—dreadful thought away-
1. contrast between her mother’s weakness and frailty.
2. blossoming life-exuberance-young trees sprinting-racing past-grim reminder of
lapse of time.
3. Children sprinting-new hope-happiness-youth-poet drifted back to-days of
idyllic youth when the mother — young-energetic.
4. now a grim reminder of lost youth-twilight-inching towards death.
stanza 3
After security check-standing few yards away
1. looks – mother’s face.
2. wan like winter moon – resembles foggy — misty – end of the cycle.
3. feels a twitch in heart-old familiar ache-childhood fear seizes her.
4. fear of loss & separation.
5. beset with the sorrow-insecurity-agonizing thought of mother’s impending
death.
6. bids goodbye-hides fear by smiling-telling ‘see you soon Amma’.
7. hiding her own grief she smiled and smiled and smiled-assurance.
Short and Simple Summary of the lesson in English– My Mother at Sixty-
Six/ Summary in simple Words/ Critical appreciation of the lesson – My
Mother at Sixty-Six
Summary
‘My Mother at Sixty Six’ captures the fear of the narrator of losing her mother
due to declining health and loss of energy which accompanies old age. The
narrator accepts this reality and is disturbed by her mother’s need for her on the
one hand and her own duties and responsibilities on the other hand. This
helplessness is poignantly brought out in this poem. The treatment is different
as it emphasizes the subtlety of a mother-daughter relationship. The tone is
reflective and the mood is one of resignation and acceptance.
In the poem, the narrator is driving to the airport. The mother is with her. She
realizes that her mother is old when the latter dozes off. The mother is pale and
looks like a corpse. When the mother wakes up she says nothing and the
narrator is pained on having to leave her frail and old mother behind.
Kamala Das has beautifully balanced the contrast between old age and
childhood or youth in the poem. Old age is shown as an ashen face, a corpse.
This is contrasted with words and ideas expressing vitality, energy and
movement. For example, ‘Trees sprinting’ and `children spilling out’. Old age is
like a winter’s moon and the mother is pale and wan. The narrator is pained yet
with a smile says ‘see you soon’. The separation is not merely of a daughter
leaving, but there is pain and a fear of death, a permanent separation, yet the
narrator must leave — probably to fulfil her commitments.
The poem ends with a tone of resignation. The narrator accepts reality. She
smiles as she parts from her mother. The repetition of the word smile reiterates
the facade the daughter puts up for the sake of the mother — the brave act, the
cheerful parting — the resignation and finally the acceptance that as she goes
away she may never see her mother alive again.
Summary (2)
The poetess, Kamala Das, is on her way to the airport at Cochin, accompanied
by her old mother. Suddenly, she realises that her mother has grown old. Her
face appears ashen like that of a corpse. This thought disturbs her as it makes
her realise the fact of her mother’s approaching death. As a daughter, the very
thought of losing her mother disturbs her and in order to drive away her worrying
thoughts, she starts looking out at the trees which appear to be sprinting as she
drives a car. She also sees young children rushing out of their homes to play
outside. This reminds her of youth and beauty. On the contrary, her mother is
ageing. She has become old and is moving towards death. This fills her with a
feeling of insecurity. In contrast to the young children and green trees, the
mother has lost her youth and charm and has become pale like the winter’s
moon.
The poetess feels the same old pain and fear of her childhood as she bids
goodbye to her mother at the airport but she hides all such emotions with a
smile which consoles her mother that she would return soon. so, ever when the
poetess herself is full of fear of old age, her smile gives her mother the hope of
survival.

Read the extracts and answer the questions that follow.

1.
Driving from my parent’s
home to Cochin last Friday
morning, I saw my mother,
beside me,
doze, open-mouthed, her face
ashen like that
of a corpse and realized with pain
that she was as old as she looked but soon
put that thought away…
(a)Where was the narrator driving to? Who was sitting beside her?
Ans. The narrator was driving to the airport on her way to Cochin. Her mother
was sitting next to her.
(b) What did the narrator notice about her mother?
Ans. The narrator noticed that her mother had dozed off and she was looking
old, pale and weak.
(c) Why did her mother’s face look like that of a corpse?
Ans. The mother looked old, pale and ashen. Since she had dozed off, with her
mouth open, the narrator felt she looked like a corpse in that condition.
(d) Find words from the passage which mean (i) Sleep lightly (ii) Dead
body
Ans.(i) Dozed; (ii) Corpse
2.
looked but soon
put that thought away, and
looked out at young
trees sprinting, the merry children spilling
out of their homes
(a)What did the narrator realize? How did she feel?
Ans. The narrator realized that her mother had grown old and would not be
around for very long. This thought pained her.
(b) What did she do then?
Ans. She started looking out of the car window in order to divert her attention
to something else.
(c) What did she see outside?
Ans. She saw young trees moving fast as if they were sprinting and also saw
young children happily running out of their homes to play.
(d) Find words from the passage which mean (i) Running fast (ii) Happy
Ans.(i) Sprinting; (ii) Merry
3.
but after the airport’s
security check, standing a few yards
away, I looked again at her, wan,
pale
as a late winter’s moon
(a)Name the poem and the poet.
Ans. The poem is ‘My Mother at Sixty-six’ and the poet is `Kamala Das’.
(b) What did the narrator do after the security check?
Ans. The narrator stood a few yards away and looked at her mother’s face
again.
(c) Why did the narrator compare her mother’s face to a late winter’s
moon?
Ans. The narrator’s mother is old, frail and very pale like the moon in late winter.
Hence, the comparison.
(d) Find words from the extract which mean the same as (i) Colourless (ii)
Faded yellowish
Ans. (i) Pale; (ii) Wan
4.
….as a late winter’s moon and felt
that old
familiar ache, my childhood’s fear,
(a)What has been compared to a late winter’s moon?
Ans. The narrator’s ageing mother has been compared to the late winter’s
moon.
(b) Why has the comparison been made?
Ans. The narrator’s mother looked old, frail and very pale like the moon in late
winter. Hence, the comparison.
(e) Identify the poetic device in the lines.
Ans. The poetic device used in the line ‘as a late winter’s moon’ is a simile.
(d) What is the ‘familiar ache’ mentioned in these lines?
Ans. It refers to the narrator’s childhood fear of losing her parent or fear of
separation from her.

5. but all I said was, see you soon, Amma, all I did was smile and smile and
smile…’
(a)Why did the narrator say ‘see you soon, Amma’?
Ans. The narrator said this to reassure her mother and herself that she would
see her soon. After the pain of realizing that her mother had grown old, there is
a mood of acceptance of reality.
(b) Why did the narrator smile and smile?
Ans. The narrator tries to put up a brave in front of her mother in order to hide
her true feelings of pain at seeing the old and weak condition of her mother.
(c) ‘Smile and smile and smile’ is a poetic device. Identify it.
Ans. It is repetition and has been used to emphasize the narrator’s acceptance
of the fact that her mother had aged and wouldn’t be around much longer.
(d) Amma is the fond way of addressing someone. Who is being
addressed here?
Ans. The narrator’s mother is being addressed here
6 .Old familiar ache, my childhood’s fear,
but all I said was, see you soon,
Amma,
all I did was smile and smile and
smile
(a) What does the phrase, ‘familiar ache’ mean?
(b) What was the poet’s childhood fear?
(c) What do the first two lines tell us about the poet’s feelings for her
mother?
(d) What does the repeated use of the word, ‘smile’ mean?
Ans. (a) The phrase ‘familiar ache’ here means a persistent painful thought
which has been nagging about her frail old mother.
(b) The poet’s childhood fear was of losing her old and ageing mother one day.
(c) The first two lines tell us that the poet agonizes at the thought of her mother
growing old and she is trying to sound hopeful while bidding farewell to her
mother.
(d) The repeated use of ‘smile’ indicates that she ran short of words, became
emotional and was trying to make an effort to hide her pain behind that smile.
6. ————-I saw my mother,
beside me,
doze, open-mouthed, her face ashen like
that
of a corpse and realised with
pain
(a) Who is ‘I’?
(b) What did ‘I’ realise with pain?
(c) Why was the realisation painful?
(d) Identify and name the figure of speech used in these lines.
Ans. (a) Here ‘ l’ is the poet.
(b) ‘I’, i.e. the poet realised with pain her ageing mother’s failing health and
noticed her corps till pale face.
(c) The realization was painful as she felt that her mother might not live long.
(d) The figure of speech is simile ‘ashen like that of a corpse’.
7.Driving from my parent’s
home to Cochin last Friday
morning, I saw my mother,
beside me,
doze, open-mouthed, her face
ashen like that
of a corpse and realised with
pain
(a) When and where was the poetess driving to?
(b) Who was sitting beside her? What did the poetess notice about her?
(c) What does the poetess compare her mother’s face with and why?
(d) Name the poem and the poetess.
Ans. (a) The poetess was driving from her parents home to the airport at Cochin
on a Friday morning.
(b) The mother of the poetess was sitting beside her. She noticed that her
mother was dozing with her mouth open. Then she realised that her mother had
grown old.
(c) The poetess compares her mother’s face with a corpse, i.e. a dead body
because her face has lost the charm. It is pale, faded and lifeless.
(d) The poem is ‘My Mother at Sixty-six’ and is written by Kamala Das.
8. …that she was as old as she
looked but soon
put that thought away, and
looked out at Young
Trees sprinting, the messy children spilling
out of their homes,
(a) What did the poetess realise? How did she feel?
(b) What did the poetess do then?
(c) What did the poetess notice outside?
(d) Explain: “the merry children spilling out of their homes”.
(e) What do young sprinting trees signify?
(f) Which thoughts did the poetess put away?
Ans. (a) The poetess realised that her mother was old now. Her corpse-like
ashen face made the poet accept the fact that her mother was approaching her
death. This realisation frightened the poetess. She felt restless and disturbed.
(b) The poetess tried to change the thought of her mind and distract herself from
the thoughts about her ageing mother and so started looking out of the window.
(c) The poetess noticed young children playing outside. The young trees
seemed moving rapidly in the opposite direction of the moving car. These
represent energy and youth in contrast to the thought of old age and death.
(d) This refers to the image of young children rushing out of their homes to play.
These children are young, full of energy and happy. They are in direct contrast
to the ageing mother.
(e) The young sprinting trees signify the active, cheerful, bright and energetic
youth.
(f) The poet put away the thoughts of her mother who was getting old and the
fear of losing her one day.

Short Answer Type Questions (30 to 40 words)

SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
1. What is the kind of pain and ache that the narrator feels?
Ans. The emotional pain and ache that the narrator feels is the realization that
her mother has grown old and is frail and pale like a corpse.
2. Why are the young trees described as sprinting?
Ans. The young trees are personified in the poem. They seem to be running in
the opposite direction when seen through the window of the moving car. The
movement is juxtaposed with the expression on the mother’s face i.e. ashen
like a corpse.
3. Why has the narrator brought in the image of the merry children ‘spilling
out of their homes’?
Ans. The narrator highlights the helplessness and frailty of old age with the help
of contrasts. The listless mother dozes off open-mouthed, whereas the children
spill out of their homes signifying movement and energy, which the old people
are bereft of. The image of the children spilling out of their homes and trees
sprinting provides a contrast to the lack of vitality in the mother.
4. Why has the mother been compared to ‘late winter’s moon’?
Ans. The mother has been compared to the late winter’s moon which is dull
and shrouded. It symbolizes the ebbing away of life. The moon brings to the
narrator’s mind, the night or the approaching end of life.
5. What do the parting words of the narrator and her smile signify?
Ans. The parting words ‘see you soon Amma’ are used by the narrator to
reassure the mother and to infuse optimism in the narrator herself. She accepts
the reality of her mother’s approaching death, yet keeps up the facade of a
smiling, happy face in order to put up a brave front. It requires a lot of effort and
hence the poet has used the poetic device of repetition to emphasize this.
6. What childhood fears do you think the narrator is referring to in the
poem ‘My Mother at Sixty Six’?
Ans. The narrator refers to the fears a child has of losing a parent or getting
lost somewhere and thus getting separated from them or even one’s own
process of ageing. The narrator felt this kind of fear while looking at her mother’s
aged and pale face. She was afraid that she might never see her alive again.
7. What does the narrator mean by ‘all I did was smile and smile and
smile…’?
Ans. The narrator realizes the pain and aches she would feel at separating from
her mother. It was her childhood fear that she was experiencing once again.
She was trying to hide her true emotions from herself and her mother by smiling
and smiling.
8. What does the narrator’s mother look like? What kind of images has
been used to signify her ageing?
Ans. The narrator’s mother is sixty-six years old, looks pale like a corpse. The
imagery of death has been created by this comparison.
9. What were the activities that the narrator saw outside the car window?
Ans. The narrator saw young trees speeding past which seemed as if they were
sprinting or running fast. Happy, enthusiastic and energetic children could be
seen running out of their homes. They present an image of youth and energy in
comparison to the lack of energy of the narrator’s mother.
10. Why does the narrator look outside? What does she perceive?
Ans. The very thought of separation from her mother upsets and depresses the
narrator. She experiences the fear that she may never meet her mother again.
In order to drive away such negative thoughts, she looks out of the window and
her mind gets diverted when she sees trees moving rapidly and children playing
merrily.
11. What does the narrator do after the security check-up? What does she
notice?
Ans. Immediately after the security check-up at the airport, and standing a few
yards away from her mother, the narrator observes her mother once again and
compares her to the pale, colourless winter’s moon, marking the last phase of
her life, i.e., her old age. She is pained to see her in such a condition and the
fear of separation returns in her, once again.
12. What is the narrator’s familiar ache and why does it return?
Ans. The narrator is pained to see her mother old and pale. This arouses the
‘familiar ache’ in her heart which she used to experience in her childhood.
13. Why does the narrator smile and what does she say while bidding
goodbye to her mother?
Ans. The narrator smiles in order to put up a brave front so that her mother
does not observe her pained and frightened look. She smiles in order to
reassure her mother and says that she would see her again soon.
14. What poetic devices has the poet used in ‘My Mother at Sixty-six’?
Ans. The poem is rich in imagery. Devices of comparisons and contrasts are
also used by the poet to draw out the difference between youth and old age.
She describes the mother’s face using similes ‘ashen like a corpse’, and ‘late
winter’s moon’. The merry children playing happily are contrasted with the old,
weak and pale mother.
15. What kind of pain does Kamala Das feel in ‘My Mother at Sixty Six’?
[Delhi 2017]
Ans. The pain that Kamala Das feels is the pain of separation from her mother
by death. She had also felt it in her childhood.
16. Why are the youngsters described as springing? (My Mother at Sixty-
six) [Delhi 2017]
Ans. The poetess is in the car on her way home to the Cochin airport. She looks
outside some young children were running and playing. The poetess seems to
contrasts her ageing mother with the youngsters’ full of life.
17. Why does Kamala Das compare her mother to ‘a pale winter’s moon’?
[Delhi 2017]
Ans. The late winter’s moon is calm and hazy with a dim lustre; it loses its
vitality and power. So the poetess compares her mother’s calm, colourless and
withered face to the late winter’s moon. She has become weak and was due to
her age of sixty-six.
18. Having looked at her mother, why does Kamala Das look at the young
children? [All India 2017]
Ans. While driving her car, the mother was sitting with her. She was dozing with
mouth open. Her face was pale and ashen. She looked like a corpse. She was
deeply depressed and pain started troubling her mind. In order to put these
troubled thoughts away, she looked at the outside world which was full of life,
activity and energy. This distraction made her feel happy.
19. What was Kamala Das’s childhood fear? [All India 2017]
Ans. After seeing her mother at sixty-six in a pale like a corpse face, her
childhood fear of separation from her mother returns. She is deeply pained lest
she should not find her mother alive after her return. These thoughts are painful
and distressing to her.
20. In the last line of the poem, ‘My Mother at Sixty-six’, why does the poet
use the word ‘smile’ repeatedly? [All India 2017]
Ans. In the last line, the poet repeats the word ‘smile’. This repetition brings out
the poet’s need to hide her pain from the mother and even herself and to
pretend that all was well and they would meet again. The smile heightens the
contrast between her inner pain and outward behaviour.
21. How does Kamala Das try to put away the thoughts of her ageing
mother?
Ans. In order to put away the thoughts of her ageing mother, the poetess
started looking out of the window of the car at young trees sprinting, the merry
children spilling out of their homes.
22. What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels?
Ans. Whenever the poet looks at the colourless and pale face of her mother,
her old familiar pain realising that her mother was ageing and would die soon.
23. Why are the young trees described as ‘sprinting’?[Delhi 2010]
Ans. The young trees are described as “sprinting” because when we look at
them from a moving car, they seem to be running fast in the opposite direction.
24. Why has the poet brought in the image of the merry children ‘spilling
out of these home’? [Textual)
Ans. The image of the merry children ‘spilling out of their home’ is to suggest
the idea of youth and beauty in contrast to the ashen-like pale wan face of her
ageing mother. This image emphasises the fact that the old mother has lost the
vitality, energy, charm, beauty and youth.
25. Why has the mother been compared to the late winter’s moon?
Ans. The mother has been compared to the late winter’s moon as she is very
old and her face is ashen, pale and withered. She looks very dull and lifeless
like the late winter’s moon.
26. What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify?
Ans. The parting words express the poet’s optimism. These words console the
mother that she would soon visit her again. She smiles to conceal her fear and
pain of separation from her mother and gives her ageing mother an assurance
of survival.
27. What was Kamala Das fear as a child? Why do they surface when she
is going to the airport?
Ans. As a child, the poet always had a fear of getting separated from her
mother. There was a sense of insecurity and fear of losing her mother. The
childhood fear reappeared when, while going to the airport, she looked at the
pale and withered face of her mother and realised that her mother was ageing
and she might lose her soon.
28. What were the poet’s feelings at the airport? How did she hide them?
Ans. The poet was full of pain and fear of being separated from her ageing
mother. The fear of losing her mother gripped her. But she bade her mother
goodbye with a smile to give her hope of survival and meeting again.
Important Long/ Detailed Answer Type Questions- to be answered in
about 100 -150 words each
Answer the following questions
Q1. In today’s fast life, children neglect their ageing parents. What do you
think children can do to have an involved and inclusive relationship with
their elderly parents?
Ans. Children are caught up in their own world of stress and ambition. They
sometimes ignore their parents. However, if they live in the same city, they
should take out some time for them. If they are in another city, the children must
ring them up regularly.
Birthdays and festivals are a good time to spend with their elderly parents and
make them feel wanted. If children accompany their parents for the medical
check-up, the parents will feel reassured. Last but not least, children must let
them know how much they are loved. This is the best gift children and
grandchildren can endow to the elderly parents.
Q2. The poem, ‘My Mother At Sixty Six’, brings home the theme that
ageing is a natural process and is going to envelop one and all. Comment.
Ans. The narrator sees her mother dozing looking pale as a corpse. The
mother’s pale face arouses the narrator’s childhood fears of losing her mother
but she cannot stay on. She accepts her mother’s ageing as a natural process.
She hides her pain and guilt under a smile. The narrator delves on the
complexities of life in which we have to strike a balance and sometimes part
with our dear ones as we have other commitments.