Boland: The Pomegranate Flashcards
What is the central theme of the mother-daughter relationship?
The complexities of motherhood and the inability to shield a daughter from life’s hardships.
What legend is referenced in relation to the mother-daughter relationship?
The story of Ceres and Persephone.
What does the mother feel in her role of protecting her daughter?
A sense of powerlessness.
What imagery is used to describe the daughter’s environment?
Asleep beside her teen magazines, her can of coke, her plate of uncut fruit.
How is the suburban setting described?
The rain is cold. The road is flint coloured. The suburb has cars and cable television.
What does Boland choose to pass on to her daughter?
The legend of Ceres and Persephone.
What does the daughter need to navigate?
Her own journey while holding onto innocence.
What symbol emerges as significant in the narrative?
The pomegranate, representing maternal love and the bittersweet passage from innocence to experience.
What timeless truths are explored in the text?
Timeless truths found in ancient myths.
5 quotes
“The only legend i have ever loved is the story of a daughter lost in hell”
“Was ready to make any bargain to keep her”
“Asleep beside her teen magazines, her can of coke, her plate of uncut fruit”
“The rain is cold. The road is flint coloured. The suburb has cars and cable television”
“Hold the papery flushed skin in her hand”
