"Mother" by Vuong Pham explores the speaker's evolving understanding of his mother's life, passions, sacrifices, and experiences as a Vietnamese refugee.
The poem begins with the speaker's nostalgic reflection on his childhood, acknowledging his mother's dreams of a paradise free from the shackles of war and displacement. As they sit in their living room, he plucks her grey hair, a symbol of her age and experiences, and asks her about her passion for life.
Anticipating her answer to be gardening, he recalls the vivid childhood memories of the lush vegetation surrounding their home, symbolizing his mother's nurturing nature. Surprisingly, she answers, 'Teaching was my passion,' specifically high school literacy. This unexpected revelation triggers a reshaping of his past, connecting her passion with his childhood achievements in literacy.
As the speaker continues to pluck her grey hairs, a poignant ritual symbolizing their intimate bond and the passage of time, he envisions her younger days before the upheaval in Saigon. He imagines her enjoying her freedom and the daily life of her city, underscoring her loss of home and identity due to the war.
The speaker, who has followed in his mother's footsteps as a teacher, then shares that he has been teaching Wordsworth to his students, highlighting the literary legacy passed onto him. In response, he reflects on his mother's sacrifices, laboring for low wages to afford necessities and his education so that he could escape the confines of manual labor.
Finally, the poem takes a dramatic turn, picturing the tumultuous scene of his mother's departure from Saigon, pregnant with him, amidst the violence and chaos. This scene captures the mother's immense bravery and the extreme conditions under which the speaker was born.
