The Relationship Between Violet and Her Mother

The relationship between Violet and her mother does not seem very well. Her mother seems to ignore her craving for love and understanding, or that is at least how Violet feels. Violet's father does not seem to mind about her either; he is hiding behind his newspaper, isolating himself. Violet gets very fascinated with Virgin Mary who she sees everywhere, she does not understand why she sees her everywhere, but it gets to a point of obsession. She describes Virgin Mary as beautiful and divine. Violet's obsession with Virgin Mary originates from the lack of attention from her own mother. Virgin Mary symbolizes Violet's ideal imagination of a loving and caring mother.

The reason for Violet's violent behavior towards the picture of Jesus is envy, she is jealous because he gets love from the woman who Violet's allegedly sees as a mother figure. "I stared at the baby's face and hated it as I've never hated anything before. She was looking down at it smiling at its bald head, and I could tell how she loved it." You can tell how she envies Jesus for getting the attention from Virgin Mary, which she does not receive from her own mother.

At one point Violet finds a dead bird embryo, she seems to identify with it, and picks it up. Violet allegedly takes on a motherly role in this section of the story, because she feels for the dead bird, who also does not have a loving and caring mother like herself.