My Rival’s House: Theme; Mother-Son Relationships

“My Rival’s House”: Mother-Son Relationships

Content

The speaker narrates the complex relationship between the protagonist and her son.
It portrays the strain experienced by the protagonist contemplating the maturity and autonomy of her son
Tensions are heightened by the son’s affinity towards the rival, who is portrayed as wealthy and culturally refined.

Language and Style

Use of vivid imagery, such as the “suit of armour”, reinforces the idea of the son’s growing independence and his developing individual identity.
The metaphor of “Polishing his manners” suggests the attempt to shape and refine the son’s behaviour, hinting at a cultural and socio-economic distance.
The phrase “Unfamiliar forks” represents the growing gap and unfamiliarity between mother and son as he immerses himself in a different social world.

Structure and Form

The stanzaic structure of the poem, with its irregular line lengths and varied rhythms, reflects the unpredictable and changing dynamics of the mother-son relationship.
The enjambment and frequent line breaks highlight the emotional disjointedness of the mother as she grapples with her changing relationship with her son.

Themes Developed

The theme of Family is unmasked, as the dynamics of a mother-son relationship is delved into. A mother’s concern, care, and constant worry over her child’s maturity into an independent individual within an alien cultural context.
Class and Status is foregrounded, with the son’s gravitation towards the rival’s refined, upper-class lifestyle, thus triggering a deep sense of inadequacy and loss in the mother.
The struggle with Identity is underscored through the metaphor of the ‘suit of armour’, symbolising the son’s growing autonomy, and his quest to fit into a disparate cultural milieu.

Key Lines

“He is away, grown, a guest…”
“…polishing his difficult upwardly-mobile vowels…”
“And all the unfamiliar forks he must now learn not to speak with in his mouth.”

These lines distinctly express the detached, helpless feelings of the mother and highlights the cultural and social gap precipitated by the son’s evolving identity.