The Mothers
Introduction + Context
Plot Summary
Detailed Summary & Analysis
Chapter One  Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen
Themes
All Themes Secrecy, Gossip, and Storytelling Caretaking and Responsibility Internalization vs. Externalization Religion and Judgment Identity
Quotes
Characters
All Characters Nadia Turner The Mothers Luke Sheppard Aubrey Evans Robert Turner Elise Turner The Pastor (John Sheppard) The First Lady (Latrice Sheppard) Russell Miller Cherry Monique (Mo) Mother Betty Paul The Dreadlocked Nurse Cody Richardson Aubrey’s Mother Dr. Yavari
Symbols
All Symbols Robert’s Truck The Prayer Book The Golden Baby Feet
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The Mothers

by

Brit Bennett
Download this LitChart! (PDF)
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Monique (Mo) Character Analysis

Aubrey’s sister. Mo lives with Kasey, her girlfriend. When Nadia discovers this, she’s surprised, given that being gay in the Upper Room community is a “big deal.” Of course, Mo herself isn’t part of the Upper Room community, but Aubrey is so religious that Nadia would never have guessed that she lives with lesbians. Mo hates her mother and is upset when Aubrey wants to invite her to the wedding, but the dispute eventually becomes unimportant when their mother declines the invitation. In general, Mo acts as if she is Aubrey’s mother, since she and Kasey took Aubrey into their home when Aubrey finally decided to flee from Paul, her mother’s sexually abusive boyfriend.

Monique (Mo) Quotes in The Mothers

The The Mothers quotes below are all either spoken by Monique (Mo) or refer to Monique (Mo). 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:
Secrecy, Gossip, and Storytelling Theme Icon
).
Chapter Four Quotes

How could a woman like that kill herself? Aubrey knew it was a stupid question—anyone could kill herself, if she wanted to badly enough. Mo said that it was physiological. Misfired synapses, unbalanced chemicals in the brain, the whole body a machine with a few tripped wires that had caused it to self-destruct. But people weren’t just their bodies, right? The decision to kill yourself had to be more complicated than that.

Related Characters: Aubrey Evans, Elise Turner, Monique (Mo)
Secrecy, Gossip, and Storytelling Theme Icon
Internalization vs. Externalization Theme Icon
Identity Theme Icon
Page Number: 83
Explanation and Analysis:
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Monique (Mo) Quotes in The Mothers

The The Mothers quotes below are all either spoken by Monique (Mo) or refer to Monique (Mo). 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:
Secrecy, Gossip, and Storytelling Theme Icon
).
Chapter Four Quotes

How could a woman like that kill herself? Aubrey knew it was a stupid question—anyone could kill herself, if she wanted to badly enough. Mo said that it was physiological. Misfired synapses, unbalanced chemicals in the brain, the whole body a machine with a few tripped wires that had caused it to self-destruct. But people weren’t just their bodies, right? The decision to kill yourself had to be more complicated than that.

Related Characters: Aubrey Evans, Elise Turner, Monique (Mo)
Secrecy, Gossip, and Storytelling Theme Icon
Internalization vs. Externalization Theme Icon
Identity Theme Icon
Page Number: 83
Explanation and Analysis:
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