The old woman is Ryzak’s mother, and she lives in Ryzak’s hut along with the young woman (Ryzak’s daughter), Lullo (Ryzak’s grandson), Ovid, and eventually the Child. Although the old woman doesn’t have a significant role until late in the story, she ultimately becomes the only real antagonist in the narrative. The old woman uses her mysticism and spirituality to instill others with fear, thus wielding greater power than even Ryzak has as the village headman. The old woman is wary of the Child from the start and suspects that he carries a demon or a beastly spirit inside of him. When the Child develops a fever during the winter, the old woman believes it is the demon trying to escape from his body to steal someone else’s soul. When the fever passes to Lullo, the old woman convinces both the young woman and Ryzak that the demon is real and that the Child is therefore a threat. Although Lullo recovers, when Ryzak falls ill, the old woman reveals a bite mark on his wrist, which she claims proves that the demon entered his body. She orchestrates the killing of Ryzak to fight the demon, which prompts Ovid and the Child to flee the village.
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Ryzak’s Mother / The Old Woman Character Timeline in An Imaginary Life
The timeline below shows where the character Ryzak’s Mother / The Old Woman appears in An Imaginary Life. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...huddle together for entire winters. He lives with the village headman and the headman’s elderly mother, daughter-in-law, and grandson. Ovid thinks these people are “barbarian[s],” but they are kind enough, largely...
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Chapter 2
...with the headman and his family in the main room of their hut. The headman’s mother never joins them. They have eaten dinner and, in the free hour before sleep, the...
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Chapter 3
...real authority than he pretends to. As a man, Ryzak embodies the law, but his mother embodies the dark spirits of the forest and the moonlight. There is a sense of...
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Ryzak’s mother, “the old woman,” remains antagonistic toward Ovid and the Child, though she will not practice...
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Chapter 4
...acts hysterical, making animal noises and trying to throw himself out the high window. Ryzak’s mother, the old woman, watches the Child at all hours and seems afraid that he truly...
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...is a result of the Child’s demon struggling to break free of his body. Lullo’s mother, the young woman, is sympathetic at first and gives the Child food and water, but...
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...tongue. This mark of humanity excites Ovid, but terrifies both the young woman and the old woman , who take it as a sign that the Child’s demon has “snatched away another...
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The old woman curses Lullo’s mother for exposing him to danger, setting her into a panic. The old woman strips Lullo’s...
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Lullo’s mother accepts the old woman’s suspicion that the Child passed his illness on to Lullo, weakening...
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...below. In the wake of the fevers, Ryzak lost his control of the household; the old woman now reigns. She claims “her magic” saved Lullo’s life and Ryzak must agree, since he...
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The old woman orders Ryzak to catch a wild puppy for her to sacrifice at the next full...
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On the night of the full moon, the old woman leads all of the village women out to their special clearing, where men are not...
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...fell ill during the night and appears gray. Animal-like growls rise from his throat. The old woman checks under his clothes and finds what she was looking for: small teeth marks on...
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...form. The shaman arrives but immediately flees, claiming that Ryzak is too far gone. The old woman declares that the Child’s demon has finally left him to take another soul. After five...
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When Ryzak dies, the ritual ceases, replaced by the long moaning of Ryzak’s mother and daughter-in-law. The village elders spend the next hours dancing and drinking themselves into a...
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