to refer to finding a home for an infant. In the same line he objectifies the child as "treasure," certainly an echo of Titus's attitude toward his sons, whose bodies he deposits like war booty in the family tomb. Aaron's view of the infant becomes clearer as he paints a picture of the motherless childhood in store for the babe. He will force the child to eat berries and suck a goat and the reader cannot ignore the implications of the son being suckled by an animal rather than a human mother. By cutting the human mother out of the picture, Aaron, like Titus, would create a manly son, like those who were the very founders of Rome, which the Goths wish to conquer. In his mind Aaron creates the child's future identity as a warrior. The babe affords Aaron a new opportunity to create a self without the nurturing help of the mother, a self no longer a slave but a warrior who may channel the father's aggression into the destruction of mother Rome. He desires to mold the infant's character to his own desires and as result both he and the child suffer.When caught by Lucius’ troops. Aaron asks Lucius to return the babe to Tamora, the mother who has already ordered the child's death. The request is startling. Earlier Aaron's goal was to hide the child with a the Goths and away from Tamora. “Lucius, save the child and bear it from me to the Empress.” (Shakespeare, V.i.53-54) The play does not reveal what happens to the child. but Aaron's request to send him back to the mother who had earlier commanded his death would seem to assure his destruction. The child, a mere pawn like the other sons and the daughter of both plays, and is quickly forgotten after Lucius agrees to hear the confession. Aaron relates with relish his numerous brutalities, such as digging up corpses and placing them outside their families' doors. That speech makes undeniably clear the depth of Aaron's hatred toward all humanity. Although from a cursory reading...
