What is the central theme of the poem My Mother at Sixty-Six by Kamala Das?

Answer 1

Middle Age

Actually the whole poem is about the daughter ( i.e the poet ) leaving home to spread her own wings. But her mother is old and nearing her time to leave this world. The daughter is torn against her decision to go pursue her own dreams and staying back to take care of her own mother. She does not want to see the reality of her mother's fast approaching death. She wishes to turn a blind eye in an effort to stick to her own decision.

"Driving from my parent's home to Cochin last Friday morning"

Cochin is the capital of Kerala, India; the poet's home town.

"..I saw my mother beside me, doze, open mouthed, her face ashen like that of a corpse"

The mother is sleeping slightly , her mouth open, on the long drive to the airport. She looks old and pale like a corpse...

"and realized with pain that she was as old as she looked but soon put that thought

away, and looked out at Young Trees sprinting.."

She doesn't want to face the reality that her mother might die while she is gone working towards her own goals. She looks outside the window of the car in an effort to distract herself.

But after the security check she looks at her again and let the reality sink in that she really is old and pale like a late winters moon. This may be employed as the late winter's moon is usually covered by a fog or clouds. Here, the mother seems to be trying to hide her true emotions. She wants to let her daughter go but at the same time she wants her to stay with her.

The poets says "See you soon amma" which signifies her decision to stick to her dreams rather than her mother, though it is not without regret. "Amma", in her native tongue Malayalam, means 'Mother'. She smiled to reassure her mother and herself. .

Answer 2

Kamala Das writes the entire poem in a single sentence that is punctuated to show the beginning of a new train of thought. For the setting of the poem, she is driving her mother to the airport and at the start of the journey she turns and looks at her mother who has dozed of and thinks to herself that her face is so blue and lifeless and fears that one day her mother will really be lifeless. she talks about this being her chilhood fear and refers to it as the old familiar ache and pain. after this, she turns and looks out of her window and watches the trees passing by in blurs of green and gold(symbolizes youth and motion), she refers to them assprinting by. she then turns and watches the young children tumbling out of their houses and again thinks of the youth her mother has lost. She then turns back to her mother and now compares her to the winter moon which is cold and no longer yellow and she thinks of how her mother was once young and like a summer moon. They now reach the airport and the poet is forced to say goodbye to her mother and though she has a lot to say to her that was on her mother she only waves and smiles and smiles.

Answer 3

In the poem MY MOTHER AT SIXTY SIX BY this title he want to say her mother has grown weak and old .It appears she will not live long.