Whirlpool

by

Cate Kennedy

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Anna and Louise’s Mum is the manipulative and domineering antagonist of the story. She’s a gorgeous, perfectly coiffed woman, but her beautiful outward appearance masks her meanness. Mum is obsessed with making her family appear perfect to others. Much to her chagrin, though, none of her family members care about this—and they all fall short of her expectations in one way or another. Instead of staying inside and joining Mum in sipping iced coffee and watching tennis on television, for instance, Anna, Louise, and Dad spend as much time as possible outside in the pool. The pool—which is an above-ground, temporary one—also feeds into Mum’s sense of inadequacy, as she believes a perfect family should have a proper in-ground one instead. It also seems that Mum hates the pool because it gives her husband and daughters someplace away from her, where they can enjoy agency. Mum’s controlling behavior follows a very specific format: she draws a family member in with what seems like kindness and then says something horribly mean. Mum is also very frightened of the prospect of her daughters growing up. Thus, her attempts to control Anna and Louise often center on making them seem as childish as possible, such as when she makes them wear dresses made for much younger kids for the family photo. This is also why she refused to get Anna a training bra for Christmas—buying her a bra would mean acknowledging that Anna is growing up. Though Mum succeeds in getting her family members dressed up and seated for the Christmas photo, Anna implies that this is all Mum will get. Anna and Louise refuse to smile for the photo, which will make it clear that Mum’s family isn’t as happy and perfect as she’d like people to believe.

Mum Quotes in Whirlpool

The Whirlpool quotes below are all either spoken by Mum or refer to Mum. 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:
Family, Appearances, and Dysfunction Theme Icon
).
Whirlpool Quotes

You all waited, silent, braced for the rest.

“There isn’t a single shot,” she added with finality, “where we don’t all look dreadful.”

And you thought, all, seeing your mothered centred there in the pictures, gripping her two girls, your father nowhere—just a peripheral shadowy shape, stretched thin.

Related Characters: Anna (The Narrator) (speaker), Mum (speaker), Louise, Dad
Page Number: 133-344
Explanation and Analysis:

“It’s bad enough we haven’t even got a proper in-ground one and you girls have to put up with that stupid thing that should have been thrown out years ago,” she adds. She turns to you then, extending her arm to take you in, watching you. “He’s absolutely obsessed, isn’t he?”

You feel yourself nod and smile again; a sickly, traitorous smile of concurrence.

Related Characters: Anna (The Narrator) (speaker), Mum (speaker), Dad
Related Symbols: The Pool
Page Number: 135
Explanation and Analysis:

Each morning of the school holidays, you feel a faint, smothered panic that the pool will sooner or later be the subject of attack. You try to stay casually offhand as you change into your bathers and escape out the back door. You can feel Louise doing the same, picking up her folded towel with studied nonchalance, as if the thought has just occurred to her. You slip through the house, expressionless and furtive, avoiding your mother on the way out.

Related Characters: Anna (The Narrator) (speaker), Mum, Louise
Related Symbols: The Pool
Page Number: 136
Explanation and Analysis:

You feel a surge of sly, teeth-gritted pleasure at his protests, his skinny, weak-limbed acquiescence. You watch the helpless ridge of his spine arching as he flounders, gasping, and your power is cool and blue and chemical. He has to learn. You girls eye each other, expressionless, as he staggers humbly to his feet afterwards, blinking and choking.

Related Characters: Anna (The Narrator) (speaker), Mum, Louise, Chris, Leanne
Related Symbols: The Pool
Page Number: 137
Explanation and Analysis:

Your heart sinks at what’s lying ready for you on the bed. “The sundresses?”

“That’s what she said.”

Louise has hers on already. She’s thin, so it doesn’t look quite so ridiculous, but yours is tight under the arms, where it’s elasticised, then sack-like all the way down to mid-calf.

Related Characters: Anna (The Narrator) (speaker), Louise (speaker), Mum
Page Number: 138
Explanation and Analysis:

The dress is squeezed across the tingling, embarrassing swell of your chest, a nine-year-old’s dress. A few weeks ago, you’d tentatively said you wanted a training bra for Christmas.

“Oh, darling,” your mother replied, looking at you indulgently. “You’re barely twelve, you’re nowhere near old enough for that.” Her tenderness felt as treacherous and irresistible as a tide, something you leaned into, hypnotised, as it tugged you off your feet.

Anna,” your mother smiled kindly, her voice low, “it’s normal for young girls to feel self-conscious about their weight, sweetie.”

Related Characters: Anna (The Narrator) (speaker), Mum (speaker)
Page Number: 139
Explanation and Analysis:

She turns sunnily to your father. “We met them while we were on the cruise, didn’t we, darling?”

That word in your mother’s mouth, the way she looks your father in the face to say it, her touch on his arm as she goes past, makes something turn over in your stomach, cold and glassy. You shudder. You can’t help it.

Related Characters: Anna (The Narrator) (speaker), Mum (speaker), Dad
Page Number: 141
Explanation and Analysis:

“I put the hose in the pool for you,” he says in a low voice. “We’ll let it fill up a bit more, eh? So it’s all ready.”

Your mother hears. “Robert, do you think we could forget about that dinky little pool just for five short minutes?” Her voice is almost breathless with forced breeziness.

Related Characters: Mum (speaker), Dad (speaker), Anna (The Narrator)
Related Symbols: The Pool
Page Number: 142
Explanation and Analysis:

You let another dead, robot smile turn up the corners of your mouth. With your eyes you will your mother’s friends to understand, [...] seeing everything encoded there. They will see how stiffly you are sitting in this humiliating dress, cross-legged like a child, how heavy and proprietorial your mother’s hand is on your shoulder. They will imagine the weight of that hand. You understand, as the camera’s indifferent shutter clicks again, that the sundresses are about your mother, that what you’d seen in her face when you’d asked for the training bra was a tremor of terror, not scorn. All this blooms in you, too fast, the flash’s nebula blinding as phosphorus.

Related Characters: Anna (The Narrator) (speaker), Mum, Louise
Page Number: 143
Explanation and Analysis:

You witness the opposing forces of charm and chill collide in your mother as she’s caught of guard. She hesitates, then says hurriedly, “Yes, yes, of course,” and there it is, you’re sure of it now; you glimpse in that moment her wire-tight thoughts running ahead, grim with the need to plot exile and allegiance, the constant undertow shift of churned, compliant water.

Related Characters: Anna (The Narrator) (speaker), Mum (speaker), Dad
Page Number: 144
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Whirlpool LitChart as a printable PDF.
Whirlpool PDF

Mum Quotes in Whirlpool

The Whirlpool quotes below are all either spoken by Mum or refer to Mum. 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:
Family, Appearances, and Dysfunction Theme Icon
).
Whirlpool Quotes

You all waited, silent, braced for the rest.

“There isn’t a single shot,” she added with finality, “where we don’t all look dreadful.”

And you thought, all, seeing your mothered centred there in the pictures, gripping her two girls, your father nowhere—just a peripheral shadowy shape, stretched thin.

Related Characters: Anna (The Narrator) (speaker), Mum (speaker), Louise, Dad
Page Number: 133-344
Explanation and Analysis:

“It’s bad enough we haven’t even got a proper in-ground one and you girls have to put up with that stupid thing that should have been thrown out years ago,” she adds. She turns to you then, extending her arm to take you in, watching you. “He’s absolutely obsessed, isn’t he?”

You feel yourself nod and smile again; a sickly, traitorous smile of concurrence.

Related Characters: Anna (The Narrator) (speaker), Mum (speaker), Dad
Related Symbols: The Pool
Page Number: 135
Explanation and Analysis:

Each morning of the school holidays, you feel a faint, smothered panic that the pool will sooner or later be the subject of attack. You try to stay casually offhand as you change into your bathers and escape out the back door. You can feel Louise doing the same, picking up her folded towel with studied nonchalance, as if the thought has just occurred to her. You slip through the house, expressionless and furtive, avoiding your mother on the way out.

Related Characters: Anna (The Narrator) (speaker), Mum, Louise
Related Symbols: The Pool
Page Number: 136
Explanation and Analysis:

You feel a surge of sly, teeth-gritted pleasure at his protests, his skinny, weak-limbed acquiescence. You watch the helpless ridge of his spine arching as he flounders, gasping, and your power is cool and blue and chemical. He has to learn. You girls eye each other, expressionless, as he staggers humbly to his feet afterwards, blinking and choking.

Related Characters: Anna (The Narrator) (speaker), Mum, Louise, Chris, Leanne
Related Symbols: The Pool
Page Number: 137
Explanation and Analysis:

Your heart sinks at what’s lying ready for you on the bed. “The sundresses?”

“That’s what she said.”

Louise has hers on already. She’s thin, so it doesn’t look quite so ridiculous, but yours is tight under the arms, where it’s elasticised, then sack-like all the way down to mid-calf.

Related Characters: Anna (The Narrator) (speaker), Louise (speaker), Mum
Page Number: 138
Explanation and Analysis:

The dress is squeezed across the tingling, embarrassing swell of your chest, a nine-year-old’s dress. A few weeks ago, you’d tentatively said you wanted a training bra for Christmas.

“Oh, darling,” your mother replied, looking at you indulgently. “You’re barely twelve, you’re nowhere near old enough for that.” Her tenderness felt as treacherous and irresistible as a tide, something you leaned into, hypnotised, as it tugged you off your feet.

Anna,” your mother smiled kindly, her voice low, “it’s normal for young girls to feel self-conscious about their weight, sweetie.”

Related Characters: Anna (The Narrator) (speaker), Mum (speaker)
Page Number: 139
Explanation and Analysis:

She turns sunnily to your father. “We met them while we were on the cruise, didn’t we, darling?”

That word in your mother’s mouth, the way she looks your father in the face to say it, her touch on his arm as she goes past, makes something turn over in your stomach, cold and glassy. You shudder. You can’t help it.

Related Characters: Anna (The Narrator) (speaker), Mum (speaker), Dad
Page Number: 141
Explanation and Analysis:

“I put the hose in the pool for you,” he says in a low voice. “We’ll let it fill up a bit more, eh? So it’s all ready.”

Your mother hears. “Robert, do you think we could forget about that dinky little pool just for five short minutes?” Her voice is almost breathless with forced breeziness.

Related Characters: Mum (speaker), Dad (speaker), Anna (The Narrator)
Related Symbols: The Pool
Page Number: 142
Explanation and Analysis:

You let another dead, robot smile turn up the corners of your mouth. With your eyes you will your mother’s friends to understand, [...] seeing everything encoded there. They will see how stiffly you are sitting in this humiliating dress, cross-legged like a child, how heavy and proprietorial your mother’s hand is on your shoulder. They will imagine the weight of that hand. You understand, as the camera’s indifferent shutter clicks again, that the sundresses are about your mother, that what you’d seen in her face when you’d asked for the training bra was a tremor of terror, not scorn. All this blooms in you, too fast, the flash’s nebula blinding as phosphorus.

Related Characters: Anna (The Narrator) (speaker), Mum, Louise
Page Number: 143
Explanation and Analysis:

You witness the opposing forces of charm and chill collide in your mother as she’s caught of guard. She hesitates, then says hurriedly, “Yes, yes, of course,” and there it is, you’re sure of it now; you glimpse in that moment her wire-tight thoughts running ahead, grim with the need to plot exile and allegiance, the constant undertow shift of churned, compliant water.

Related Characters: Anna (The Narrator) (speaker), Mum (speaker), Dad
Page Number: 144
Explanation and Analysis: