EVA MUOZ SNCHEZ MAROTO 05704311-N

MARTHA QUEST

In this essay we are going to study one of the reason of Marthas anger, why is she angry?. I focus on
the mother-daughter relationship since it appears throughout the whole novel and it could be considered the
main cause of her anger. Martha has not a model to follow; we could even say that what she has is a model
to not follow. She is completely sure about what she wants, that is, not to be like her mother, I will not, I
will not. Several conflicts exist between mother and daughter due to the fact that Marthas mother doesnt
understand her since her traditional mind clashes with her daughter modern life view. Besides she
compromises the independence of her daughter although Mrs Quest is not a horrible and controlling person.

First of all, we have to introduce the concept of matrophobia . According to Lynn Sukenick, who
introduces this concept in her 1973 article on Doris Lessing, matrophobia is the fear not of ones mother or
of motherhood but of becoming ones mother. Therefore, we could say that the relationship between
Martha and Mrs Quest is matrophobic because She is running away from the idea of being like her mother.
Thus, her matrophobia guides her to find the way of not being influence by her mother.

One of the methods of Martha to annoy her mother is to read. Reading, she avoids Mrs Quest and
also makes her angry not only because it is a way of highlighting her lack of education but also because the
books are provided by her Jewish friends and Mrs Quest has an anti-Semitic feeling. By means of books,
Martha produces an area where her mother doesnt have space. Books give her the opportunity of being part
of a different social order where her thoughts would be something normal.

Another episode where we can observe the continuous struggle could be found in the very beginning
of the novel in relation with the clothes. This theme is related with sex. By means of clothes Mrs Quest
wants to preserve the innocence of her daughter who is still a child for her, however Martha puts up
resistance. For her mother, Martha is a pouter pigeon, she doesnt accept that her daughter is a sexual
being. So Martha uses clothes as a weapon against her mother wearing adult clothes. In other chapter, we
read about the relationship between Martha and a boy called Adolf. She uses to upset her mother because he
is a Jewish young. She only wants to provoke her so this boy is the perfect subject not only because her
mother is worry about sex but also because of his religion.

Clothes are also related with the independence, while she wears what her mother wants to she will
continue being a child and therefore dependent from her parents. But, as we have mentioned before, the
macrophobia helps her to break with her mothers rules and she runs away her home in order to find her
identity by means of a job which she has found thanks to her friend Joss. Thus, at the end of the first part of
the novel, Martha starts a new life.

Finally Martha marries with Douglas in spite of her feelings but this has been another movement
against her mother, it has not been because of her desire of a marriage but her desire of annoying Mrs Quest.
This has been the final action which demonstrates how Mrs Quest influences Marthas actions.

The conflicts are caused by differences between the traditional style of life, which is product of a
patriarchal education, of Mrs Quest and the modern one of Martha. Mrs Quest wants for her daughter
everything what she has not had in her life however Martha disagree with her mothers desire since she is
living other period of time. Thus Martha believes that it is impossible to find a connection between her and
her mother and always tries to make her angry without realising that she is full of anger.