Previous
Jimmie
Ayah’s mother is unnamed but appears in a few flashbacks. Alongside Ayah’s grandmother, she teaches Ayah to weave warm blankets out of wool. She is the first person Ayah turns to when she is giving birth to Jimmie, and she calls more women from the community to help. Though her appearances are brief, Ayah’s mother is a symbolic link to the maternal kinship and heritage from which Ayah has been separated for many years.
Ayah’s Mother Quotes in Lullaby
The Lullaby quotes below are all either spoken by Ayah’s Mother or refer to Ayah’s Mother. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Lullaby Quotes
She did not want to think about Jimmie. So she thought about the weaving and the way her mother had done it. On the tall wooden loom set into the sand under a tamarack tree for shade. She could see it clearly. She had been only a little girl when her grandma gave her the wooden combs to pull the twigs and burrs from the raw, freshly washed wool.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
In this passage, Ayah takes shelter from the storm beneath Jimmie’s old army blanket. Based on her direct avoidance of remembering Jimmie, the reader can infer that Ayah associates him with pain. Returning to recollections brought on by the woolly snow, she turns instead to happy memories of weaving blankets with her mother and grandmother. This moment provides a glimpse into Ayah’s birth community through the skills and knowledge passed down to her by the women who raised her. This focus on female kinship figures heavily in the rest of the story, as it is one of the most significant Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis co
She felt peaceful remembering. She didn’t feel cold any more. Jimmie’s blanket seemed warmer than it had ever been. And she could remember the morning he was born. She could remember whispering to her mother, who was sleeping on the other side of the hogan, to tell her it was time now. […] The morning was already warm even before dawn and Ayah smelled the bee flowers blooming and the young willow growing at the springs.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
In this passage, Ayah remembers Jimmie’s birth despite her efforts not to think about him. The memory warms her, perhaps because it took place in summer. That her mother was present to offer her support during this formative moment again emphasizes the close-knit familial connections Ayah experienced in her youth. In this scene, Ayah’s memories seem to directly affect her physical state. They warm her, despite the cold. The summer sun as she remembers it on the day Jimmie was born is symbolic of a happy pinnacle in her life, a personal season of contentment. Here again, the story connects Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor as
She tucked the blanket around him, remembering how it was when Ella had been with her; and she felt the rush so big inside her heart for the babies. And she sang the only song she knew to sing for babies. She could not remember if she had ever sung it to her children, but she knew that her grandmother had sung it and her mother hand sung it:
The earth is your mother,
she holds you,
The sky is your father,
he protects you.
[…]
We are together always
There was never a time
when this
was not so.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
This passage ends the story, with Ayah tucking Chato in the way she used to do for Ella, knowing that he will soon be gone from this world. The lullaby she sings was sung to her as a child, though she cannot remember singing it to her own children and now will never get the chance. The lullaby’s words hammer home the connection between nature and family, emphasizing togetherness as an essential and natural state of being. Moving through this passage, the reader touches on many of the themes that are central to the story. The grief Ayah feels remembering Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas
Get the entire Lullaby LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Ayah’s Mother Character Timeline in Lullaby
The timeline below shows where the character Ayah’s Mother appears in Lullaby. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Lullaby
...reflects instead on the practice of weaving wool on a loom, taught to her by her mother and grandmother. As a young girl, Ayah would comb twigs and burrs from the wool...
(full context)
Ayah remembers the morning she gave birth to Jimmie, enlisting her mother ’s help in the early hours of the morning, trying not to wake the others...
(full context)
