The School for Good Mothers

“Gust used to explain the whole world that way: the mind as a house living in the house of the body, living in the house of a house, living in the larger house of the town, in the larger house of the state, in the houses of America and society and the universe. He said those houses fit inside one another like the Russian nesting dolls they bought for Harriet.

What she can’t explain, what she doesn’t want to admit, what she’s not sure she remembers correctly: how she felt a sudden pleasure when she shut the door and got in the car that took her away from her mind and body and house and child.”

Here, the narrator introduces the image of houses, which often symbolize a person’s mind and body throughout the novel. Whereas Frida felt comfortable in her old house and relationship with Gust, she hasn’t adjusted to living in her new house or being a single mother, and has been struggling with insomnia and depression as a result. Because of all of this, Frida feels guilty pleasure when she temporarily ignores her responsibilities, leaving the physical space of her house and also clearing her mind of her duties.

“The family of yellers two doors down are outside smoking weed and clinking beer bottles. Loud white Americans taking up space. She never claimed her space. Gust used to tell her to stop apologizing, stop it with the Midwestern gosh-golly. But maybe some people weren’t meant to claim their space. She claimed it for two and a half hours and lost her baby.”

Here, Frida’s mind-body problem is applied to the metaphor of “taking up space” which can include making noise, breaking rules, or having needs. This quote also explores the racial double standards prevalent in the legal system, which are elaborated on later in the novel. Whereas wealthy, white Americans usually don’t get in trouble for minor crimes, several of the mothers whom Frida encounters at the school are there because they smoked marijuana.

“At the beginning, it felt like they were taking care of a benevolent creature, not yet a human. Making a new human felt so grave.”

Frida uses a simile to express how infants don’t seem truly human to her. Inherent in this simile is the idea that humans are bad until taught morals.