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Maternal Kinship and Community
Themes and Colors
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Lullaby, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Elements of the natural world are an important symbolic throughline in “Lullaby.” In the present, Ayah makes her way through a heavy snowstorm, searching for her husband, Chato. While waiting for him near Cebolleta Creek, she imagines how the flow of water changes in different seasons, displaying a deep familiarity with the natural cycles of the land around her. Likewise, many of her memories are rooted in specific seasons and natural elements: her eldest son is born in the summer just as the flowers are in bloom, and she mourns the loss of her younger children by sleeping on the hill where they spent their last day together until the first snows of winter arrive.
This natural imagery frequently invokes a sense of wonder, comfort, and peace. Even Ayah’s most traumatic memories are alleviated by nature. When she and her children flee from the white doctors to the hilltop, the “sun warmth relaxed her and took the fear and anger away.” As she and Chato might freeze to death in the snow, Ayah is struck by the “clarity of the night sky.” Even when Ayah’s familial bonds are threatened, then, nature grounds her and anchors her identity.
Gradually, the natural world becomes a symbol of familial connection. Danny and Ella, infrequently brought to visit their home, are “being weaned from these lava hills and from this sky,” as a mother weans an infant. Though connection to the earth is as vital as connection to family, Ayah can sense that her children are being taught to live without it. In other words, being taken from their native landscape symbolizes their removal from their biological family as well. The lullaby that serves as the story’s end makes this connection explicit, saying “The earth is your mother […] The sky is your father.” By linking the natural world with familial identity, the story underscores the tragedy of Ayah’s loss and condemns the forces that separated her children from so much of what made them who they are.
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Nature and Familial Identity ThemeTracker
The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of Nature and Familial Identity appears in each chapter of Lullaby. Click or tap on any chapter to read its Summary & Analysis.
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Chapter
Lullaby
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Nature and Familial Identity Quotes in Lullaby
Below you will find the important quotes in Lullaby related to the theme of Nature and Familial Identity.
Lullaby Quotes
Ayah reached out for it like her own babies had, and she smiled when she remembered how she had laughed at them. She was an old woman now, and her life had become memories.
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This passage comes near the beginning of the story, when Ayah is wandering through heavy snow and remembering the way her children liked to play in it. As an elderly woman, the days when her children were babies are long past. This quote firmly situates Ayah in the end stages of her life, when memories are all that she has left. Early on, the story connects elements of nature to family and memory, all of which are central themes. The snowstorm that surrounds Ayah in the present symbolizes that she is nearing the end of her life’s journey and is 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
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.
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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
The sun warmth relaxed her and took the fear and anger away. She lay back on the rock and watched the sky. It seemed to her that she could walk into the sky, stepping through clouds endlessly. Danny played with little pebbles and stones, pretending they were birds eggs and then little rabbits. Ella sat at her feet and dropped fistfuls of dirt into the breeze, watching the dust and particles of sand intently.
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This scene takes place after Ayah, Danny, and Ella flee into the nearby hills to hide from the white doctors. Being surrounded by the natural world calms Ayah’s heightened emotions and brings her peace. Danny and Ella, like their mother, seem to enjoy being in the natural world. This scene strengthens the connection between nature and familial identity by showing that the serenity Ayah attains in nature has already been passed on to her young children. For Ayah, home is a specific place existing in conjunction with the physical nearness of one’s family; she has buried other lost children in 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 ape
It was worse than if they had died: to lose children and to know that somewhere, in a place called Colorado, in a place full of sick and dying strangers, her children were without her. There had been babies that died soon after they were born, and one that died before he could walk. She had carried them herself, up to the boulders and great pieces of the cliff that long ago crashed down from Long Mesa; she laid them in the crevices of sandstone and buried them in fine brown sand with round quartz pebbles that washed down the hills in the rain. She had endured it because they had been with her.
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This passage comes after the white doctors take Danny and Ella away from Ayah and Chato, claiming that the children have inherited an unspecified disease. Recalling her other children, who died young, Ayah was able to bear those losses because she buried the bodies near her, taking comfort in the fact that they were close. This is not so with Danny and Ella, and the separation, for Ayah, is worse than death. This passage brings to mind Jimmie’s death, made worse by his lack of a proper burial. The burial of these unnamed children is intimate and as comforting as 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. Per
Ayah watched the government car disappear down the road and she knew they were already being weaned from these lava hills and from this sky.
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This moment takes place after Danny and Ella are brought to visit Ayah and Chato for the first time since their removal. Her children already seem distant, and they are not allowed to stay for long. Afterward, Ayah can sense that these visits are not part of a process to bring her children back to her, but rather to separate them permanently. The use of the word “wean” in this passage calls to mind maternal images of breastfeeding and parental care. Its presence here is intentionally ironic: instead of their mother weaning them from her breast, Danny and Ella are 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
The sky cleared. Ayah saw that there was nothing between her and the stars. The light was crystalline. There was no shimmer, no distortion through earth haze. She breathed the clarity of the night sky; she smelled the purity of the half moon and the stars.
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This passage comes near the end of the story, when Ayah and Chato are sheltering from the snowstorm behind some boulders. Chato is asleep, and soon Ayah will realize that he is going to freeze to death. Before that moment, she looks up at the night sky with the same wonder and appreciation she has had for the natural world her entire life. The phrase “nothing between her and the stars” implies a level of closeness that is striking. Of course, the stars are many miles away from where Ayah sits looking up at them, and yet they must certainly 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. Pe
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.
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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
