“’Do you know what this town is saying about me?’ my mother answers from above. ‘They say that my daughter is common, a slut’” (22).
On nights when Meredith cannot take the pressure of her new life, she prays. She prays for someone to hold her, help her, and tell her that everything will turn out okay. Most of these prayers are directed towards her mother, the person who was supposed to stand by Meredith throughout the course of this pregnancy. Someone who will not care what society thinks of her or her daughter's situation, because there are more important things in life than worrying about other people's problems. However, Meredith's mother was the opposite of a supportive figure. Her first instinct was to ship Meredith off far away to live with her father to avoid the embarrassment she would cause at home. She was constantly worried about what others thought of her, and her reputation, which Meredith picks up on after a while of neglect and apathy. I cannot begin to comprehend the emotional suffering that Meredith had to endure, and I do not want to. A parent should stand up for their children and comfort them no matter what, but Meredith's mom abandoned her motherly duties.
In reading her mother's actions before Meredith get pregnant, it is almost as if this pregnancy is a wonderful excuse for her to cut Meredith off. She's the only one she still has to actively parent, and by having the excuse of Meredith being "bad" she can be truly selfish without the reminder that perhaps she should be parenting. I feel so badly for Meredith in those weeks before her pregnancy because she is obviously so lonely--the shunning has begun before she even does anything wrong.
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