the problematics of motherhood in twentieth century women's fiction

217
5.5.3.11. Morag of The Diviners remembers the deaths of her
parents, but not their lives. Yet she is painfully aware of
the bonds of blood, of then presence lnfused into her
being "they're inslde me, flowing unknown in my blood and
moving unrecognized In my skull" fD 191 Also, her
obsesslve desire "Zo have someone of her own blood" fD 2351
prompts her to seek thls fulfilment outslde rnarrlage
5.5.3.12. The sparsely used mllk/breast symbol in Nectar in
a Sieve nevertheless reinforces the fertility Image
5 .5.3 .13. There are references to the "bond of blood"
(WET 121, "year of blood" [the year of Connle's flrst
abortlonl
fW3T 411, blood associated wlth chlldblrth
(WET 96) ln Woman an the Edge of Time
Blood and mllk are.
for Connle, essential In establlshlng the flrst llnk bet.#een
mother and chlld, and hence she cannot dlgest the concept of
brooder-born bables
HOW could anyone know what belng a mother means
who has never carrled a ct~ld nlne months heavy
under her heart, who has never borce a baby ln
blood and paln, who has never suckled a chlld
(WET 991
Llke Sethe of Morr~son's Beloved, Connle "had loved breast-
feeding - that deep-down warm mllky connection that seemed
to start In her womb and spread up through her trunk lnt0
her full dark-nippled breasts" (WET.1261. The lmages of