Sunday, May 08, 2011

A Palate Cleanser: Who are the Worst Mothers in Literature



Well sure Medea and Gertrude come to mind. But in the books, we actually read, who scares you most? How about Mrs. White, Carrie's mother? Stephen King is hard to top in creating monsters.
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12 comments:

le0pard13 said...

My wife, and mother of my children, offered a good one: Sybil's mom is hard to top. I'd offer up Lilly Dillon from Jim Thompson's THE GRIFTERS.

6:32 PM
Naomi Johnson said...

How about Mother Bates from PSYCHO? Oh, wait...

6:44 PM
pattinase (abbott) said...

Nobody can ever top Sybil's mother. I still have nightmares about her.
Norman is an unofficial mother.

6:59 PM
Cullen Gallagher said...

Someone already beat me to it, but the mother from THE GRIFTERS was the first one that came to mind.

7:46 PM
pattinase (abbott) said...

I haven't seen that movie since it was at the theater. I really need to rent it.

8:09 PM
pattinase (abbott) said...

The mother in PRECIOUS.

8:12 PM
George said...

MOMMIE DEAREST comes to mind. And, at a different level, Mary Tyler Moore in ORDINARY PEOPLE.

8:37 PM
Cap'n Bob said...

Eve. She ruined it for everyone.

9:05 PM
Todd Mason said...

Um...Stephen King is pretty easy to top in creating monsters.

Now, Patricia Highsmith is hard to top in creating mosnters...let's recall "The Terrapin." Robert Bloch, Joe Lansdale, Harlan Ellison...lots of people are better at creating monsters than King. Richard Condon's mother from THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE is pretty malevolent.

Blaming Eve seems rather convenient, but that ain't my faith.

12:46 PM
Todd Mason said...

(I never believed in Mrs. White, and her "dirty-pillows"...weakest part of that novel, which in turn is still the best I've attempted from King. It is impossible to not believe in the mother in "The Terrapin.")

12:48 PM
Todd Mason said...

Eleanor's mother in THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE (and her sister, of course).

12:50 PM
pattinase (abbott) said...

Oh, THE TERRAPIN. Love it.

2:07 PM

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