her bare, lumpy legs, not touched by the sun, her apron still on and damp across the stomach from the supper dishes. (529)It is overlooked that the father would also look out of place if he were inside the house during his workday, invading his wife’s territory, unless it was, of course, to come in for his prepared meal at lunchtime. Through the daughter’s descriptions, the reader can see that the father does his imperative work outside the home, and the mother’s job was not considered as being important: “work done out of doors, and in my father’s service, was ritualistically important” (530). It is evident within the happenings of the story that the mother is not necessarily appreciated for what she dutifully does for her family. “My mother, I felt, was not to be trusted….You could not depend on her, and the real reasons for the things she said and did were not to be known” (530). Yet, the narrator’s mother went out of her way for everyone else, neglecting herself. “She would tie her hair up [in a kerchief] in the morning, saying she did not have time to do it properly, and it would stay tied up all day” (529). She is too busy holding the never-ending task of mother hood and womanhood, carrying out her duties quietly and inconspicuously, knowing this is her job. Every mother wants the best for her child, and typically wants to ensure that her child has the life she could not, or did not have for herself. She may make choices she thinks would be in the best interest of her child, having the experience of her own life and knowing what the consequences of missing out on a better life may be. These intentions and actions may be righteous, and common but, sometimes in doing such, the mother superimposes her lost dreams and control only to lead to hazardous consequences and lost dreams for her child. In “The Boarding House” by James Joyce, this is the role ...
