As a young woman Laura harbors a lot of resentment toward her parents, but especially toward her mother. Why do you suppose she directs her anger primarily in that direction?

As a young woman Laura harbors a lot of resentment toward her parents, but especially toward her mother. Why do you suppose she directs her anger primarily in that direction?

Laura's mother berated her and basically told her she was a disgrace and embarrassment to the family. She also lied and said she'd raise the child as her own, then put Laura in the unwed mother's home. The dad was sad, but not vocal in condemning Laura.

I think my Mom was acutely feeling the emotions I was feeling even though she could not comfort me in her anger at the situation. I was furious with her for a long time but time allowed me to walk in her shoes emotionally. My heart was broken to learn she was still dealing with her “guilt” about giving my son up for adoption when she was in her 80’s. My Dad was my constant supporter, without blaming, throughout my experience.

I can understand her resentment towards her mother. I would have been in the same situation had that ever happened to me. Parents then were more concerned about appearances than the feelings of their daughters.

Laura knew that her mother was more concerned with appearances than with Laura's feelings and concerns about her situation. The fact that her mother gave Laura no support or comfort tells a lot about the kind of woman/mother she was. It was no wonder Laura harbors this resentment. I was surprised she was actually able to let it go as she got older.

I think Laura was particularly upset at her mother simply because her mother presumably would understand that Laura might want the child. Her mother would understand the connection to an unborn child, but she never gave Laura a hint of understanding. I believe Laura would have felt totally betrayed and unloved. It’s possible that her mother may have felt the need to deny any feelings so as not to encourage Laura’s idea of keeping her baby.

I think there's often a lot of animosity between mothers and daughters, and feel like in Laura's case it was there long before she became pregnant. I know in my life, I always felt my mom was a you-know-what while my father was my daddy. After I became an adult I became aware of the fact that it was my mom that pushed for things for us - classes, lessons, sports participation, etc. - and that she was the one who really sacrificed to make it happen. Dad was completely opposed to all the activities we were involved in. And yet it's still my father that I feel deep love for - my father I feel connected to - while not really liking my mother very much. I wonder how much a similar dynamic existed between Laura and her mom.

I think that it feels easier to understand a father's difficulty in seeing his daughter as a sexual being and feeling his sense of ineptitude in protecting her from her situation. When her father went to the man who contributed the sperm, he must have felt like a complete failure. One wants a mother to feel more compassion and fight for her daughter.

Every young girl expects her mom to be there during the most traumatic times because she has probably lived through similar experiences. When the mother becomes so selfish and has no sympathy or empathy for her situation, it would be devastating. Without the mom, there was no support for her hurt.

Hi Bookreader. My Mom was furious with me and not supportive of me keeping my son. However she did visit me and wrote to me when I was at the maternity home and she was with me as long as they allowed when I was in labor. So she was supportive in her own caretaking way.

I believe parental support depends on the parents’ personalities rather than gender stereotyping.

I think there was another issue between Laura and her mom that fueled Laura’s resentment long before she became pregnant. The erratic behavior her mom demonstrated from the time Laura was a toddler could not have been easy for Laura. Keeping her mom’s behavior (crying jags, weeks in bed, episodes of extreme anger) were a lot for the only girl in the family to deal with. It does not seem that her mom had the skill or desire to try and open the lines of communication with Laura even when the depression lifted. It was as though the wall of silence was built long before Laura became pregnant.

For decades many mothers and daughters have head butted over everything. With that being said, Laura’s mother also had her own mental health issues and a lot of her behaviors were directed at the only other female in the family. Maybe it would have been different if Laura had any sisters. As a result it fueled resentment from Laura.

Laura's father's intentions were very clear. Give up the baby.
Laura thought her mother was going to support her in raising the baby as her own.
She was devastated when she realized that her mother had no intention of doing that and only lied to her.
How could Laura be anything but angry towards her mother. In Laura's time of need her mother let her down. She was more concerned with what the neighbors would think than her own daughter,

Because her mother was hot and cold in her relationship with Laura. She found cause to put Laura down and try to destroy her self esteem.

Laura's anger at her mother from the very beginning was the result of of shaming Laura for being pregnant as a result of her "sleeping around"; putting a guilt trip on her by telling her that her pregnancy would "kill her father"; by insisting that she drop out of school before it became known to others; and finally by lying to Laura implying that she would raise the baby. Any slight positive action taken or statement made was motivated by her mother's need to be the "victim".