Blog Post #8: Night Women

This short story invites readers into a world of a woman who sells her body in order to provide for her son. Despite the harsh lifestyle that she lives she is characterized as a loving mother that only wants her son to live a happy life. The author makes this apparent through the details that she uses to not only describe her career, but the love she has for her little boy. 

We can see that she hates the life that she lives with quotes such as,

 "Tonight I am much older than the twenty-five years that I have lived. The night is the time I dread most in my life." 

She is depicted as a victim of this lifestyle instead of one who takes pride in it. This quote also gives readers a sense of sympathy for the woman; we no longer look down on her but now wish to help her.

We are told that the father of the child has disappeared a long time ago but we aren't exactly told how. From what I've read and the context clues that I picked up on I came to the conclusion that he may have been a client who up and left her, or possibly a loving husband who died and her only way of supporting her family was by selling herself.  

This woman is the epitome of a strong and loving mother. We are brought to this conclusion with the help of the author. The vast amount of diction and detail put into every moment of the story makes it so easy to fall into. For example, when she talks of the day that her son will soon find out what she does to put food on the table, 

"I have prepared my fabrication. One day, he will grow too old to be told that a wandering man is a mirage and that naked flesh is a dream." 

This was my favorite line from the entire passage. The sad reality that one day her sons innocence will fade and he will see his mother as nothing more than a prostitute. She is fully aware of this but does not let it effect the amount of love she will have for him.