Aaron is extremely impatient for children. Why do you think this is? Why is Rachel reluctant to start a family? 

Aaron is extremely impatient for children. Why do you think this is? Why is Rachel reluctant to start a family? Does Aaron respect her reasoning?

After being married for seven years, Aaron has the right to want children, and Rachel has the right to not want children. More couples reluctantly stayed together in the 1950’s. I think today, this decision of remaining childless should be discussed before a marriage, not after.

Aaron is under pressure from his family to start a family of his own. But Aaron says at one point that making more Jews is the obligation of the Jews who have survived, including Jews like him who have never lived in Germany. I believe that is part of his motivation to have children.

Aaron wants to please his family especially his brother by starting a family but is conflicted in his feelings because Rachel does not want children, at least not yet. But they stay together as couples did during that time period.

Aaron is trying to please his mother by having children. He is under pressure to be a father like his cousin Ezra Weinstock. Aaron believes time is running out for him to be able to “face the world like a man”. Rachel is guilt ridden by her desire to NOT have children. She is tormented by the question of who has the right to create life, based upon her past deeds.

I agree with Laura C. that Aaron was motivated by his family to have children and that he stated that it was their duty to have children to replace the many Jews who were lost in the war. Rachel, on the other hand, is insecure and traumatized over her experiences during the war, thus feeling unsure that she is ready for motherhood.

It's philosophical and a question of which side you think is applicable:

Nature vs. Nurture?

I believe in nurture - Aaron was raised in a loving home and therefore has a need to share that, he misses his happy childhood and by having children of his own it is, in a way, a chance to relive it. For Rachel, she's scared of bringing children into the world and doing to them, what her mother did to her - in essence, reliving her childhood.

Since the beginning of time, there has been a history of groups trying to eliminate the Jewish population. The main reason for marriage to this day is to procreate and have babies, so the faith will never be eliminated. But this is in conflict with Rachele. She survived WWII, faced death and Nazis trying to exterminate Jews. She is fearful for her not-yet born child's safety and facing the dark secrets of her past.

Aaron wanted to start a family. His parents wanted him to start a family. After the war and because of the devastating death of so many Jews the Jewish people wanted to have children to build up the race. Rachel does not want to start a family. Her childhood living though the war as a Jew was horrific. She has guilt for the choices she had to make to stay alive. She tells her therapist God made me to be me. Not to be a mother. Not anyone’s mother. Aaron does not know her true fears or all that she went through during the war.

Aaron wanted to start a family because of his loving childhood and pressure from his family to have children. Also, since Ezra had several children he wanted to have a family like his. Rachel had so much trauma in her childhood and in Germany that she didn’t want to have a child of her own.

I think Aaron was feeling pressure from his family and his expectations that he learned growing up. It was natural in that time to want a family before 7 years of marriage.

Aaron is feeling pressure from his Mother to have a child. She thinks marriage means children. Rachel doesn't feel she is worthy to be a Mother and bring a child into the world. She is so broken by what she did to stay alive during WWII, that having a child just doesn't feel right.

Aaron and Rachel had been married seven years. He was ready to take the “next step” and start a family. His mother was pressuring him for grandchildren. He also had a cousin in the same building with children. Rachel does not feel she has the right to have children as she has not forgiven herself for her part in the girl with the berets arrest. She realizes she is too broke to be a mother.

During that era, it was expected men and women marry and have a family. I don't believe Aaron could understand why Rachel wasn't so anxious to have children and I do believe Aaron felt incredible pressure from his mother and society in general. Rachel was so incredibly damaged/harmed by her experiences with the war and Nazis, she couldn't face bringing a child into the cruelty of the world.

It was the 1950s and everyone was having big families. I think Aaron had a very loving upbringing plus his mother is nagging him to have kids. Rachel doesn't want kids because of what she went through during the war and didn't want to bring children into a world to suffer like she did.

Having a family and siring children is what was expected. The children link the husband and wife together. It was expected as a Jewish family. I don't think less of him for wanting that, it wasn't that Rachel couldn't get pregnant. She was avoiding it with birth control and I think Aaron felt she didn't love and trust him enough to have a child. She didn't share her feelings so how would he know her really reasons for not wanting a child.

I think it is very natural for Aaron to want children after 7 years of marriage. He wants to please his family and fulfill his need for a child. I don't think the reasons for not wanting a family were discussed back in this time period. Rachel, certainly has a reason to be more wary of having children, and especially with the emotional trauma she has been through and probably wondering if she could be a good parent to a child when she has so many issues herself. I think a good therapist is the answer to most of Rachel and Aarons issues.