Most of us know at least one person, whom we believe to be an overprotective parent. We scratch our heads in dismay wondering how it is that they fail to recognize this tendency within themselves; all the while we are being tempted to give them our humble opinion as to how they can correct the problem. .
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The quickest route to a broken friendship is probably to step in and tell little Peter's mother and father that they are doing a lousy and miserable job raising their child. In our honest, but insolent attempt to help them become better parents, we focus our attention in the wrong direction, believing that if we just enlighten them how to correct their mistakes they will definitely pay attention. Nothing could be further from the truth. .
The subsequent essay includes a concise introduction to The Mother of the Child in Question by Doris Lessing, a profound elucidation of the gist of the story and a discussion, where two texts are included.
The Mother of the Child in Question (1992) is a sharply perceptive story, which deftly explores a sensitive and perennial theme: the overprotection by mothers. It concentrates on a family with a foreign background and a social worker. The social worker is to convince the father and the mother that their youngest daughter is better off with attending a private school. According to a medical file (Line 47) she is subnormal and unsuited for her present school, but the social worker is having a hard time trying to persuade.
To begin with he meets Hassan, who is at home instead of his father. The father, who initially had agreed to meet with the social worker, is said to be at work, and consequently the father sent his oldest son, who, however, is 12 years old, to perform the role as an interpreter - albeit there were two older daughters in the family. (Line 7- 9: "This must be Hassan, the twelve-year-old. His white teeth, his bright blue jersey, the white collar of his shirt, all dazzled, and behind him the small room crammed with furniture was too tidy for a family room-).