Bad news Quote by Lionel Shriver
““For years I’d been awaiting that overriding urge I’d always heard about, the narcotic pining that draws childless women ineluctably to strangers’ strollers in parks. I wanted to be drowned by the hormonal imperative, to wake one day and throw my arms around your neck, reach down for you, and pray that while that black flower bloomed behind my eyes you had just left me with child. (With child: There’s a lovely warm sound to that expression, an archaic but tender acknowledgement that for nine months you have company wherever you go. Pregnant, by contrast, is heavy and bulging and always sounds to my ear like bad news: “I’m pregnant.” I instinctively picture a sixteen-year-old at the dinner table- pale, unwell, with a scoundrel of a boyfriend- forcing herself to blurt out her mother’s deepest fear.) (27)””
About This Quote
Source Novel: The Mandibles, 2008
The narrator describes an intense, almost compulsive desire for pregnancy, juxtaposing the romanticized notion of motherhood with the fear and societal pressure surrounding it.
In simple terms: A deep longing for pregnancy is mixed with fear and social expectations.
Key Takeaway
Acknowledge personal desires while questioning societal pressures.
Themes
motherhood
desire
societal expectations
gender
psychology
Mood
introspective
conflicted
Type
literary
psychological
When to use this quote
- personal journaling
- therapy
- support groups
- literary analysis
Key Concepts
reproductive instinct
social stigma
identity formation
Questions to Reflect On
- What societal messages shape our view of motherhood?
- How do personal desires conflict with external expectations?
A Different Perspective
The passage may idealize pregnancy without addressing real challenges.
