Mother's Love Death Without Weeping

Eric Thai

March 25 2009

ANT 1001 / TV24A

Mother's Love Death Without Weeping

When one hears the two words mother and child one often thinks of a mother's love for their child. Growing up in a more fortunate childhood I would never have thought such neglect for they own flesh and blood could occur. In "Mother's Love: Death Without Weeping", Nancy Hughes explains why some babies are often left to die by their parents who leave them on the floor without feeding them. The most shocking fact is how they could do this without shedding a tear and how it is frowned upon.

I understand the situation of Alto do Cruzerio being full of poverty and lack of hygiene. What I don't understand and what is not mentioned in the chapter is why do so many women bring the babies into the world without the ability to take care of them. The chapter doesn't mention anything about the male population only that birth control is frowned upon on. What also intrigues me is how they are devoted catholics and believe that the babies that died were destined to become angels.

The mothers of Alto do Cruzerio who often try not to become attached to their babies, reminds me of how some relationships go on. Some relationships I have seen have a case where one partner stays distant in order to avoid the heartbreak of a failed relationship. This is an unhealthy relationship between a couple because no growth in the relationship can occur. Overall I understand that the mothers must remain distant because so many deaths do often occur without any warning.

Hughes, Nancy Scheper. "Mother's Love Death Without Weeping." In Conformity and Conflict: Readings in Cultural Anthropology, 12 ed. Spraley and McCurdy. Allyn & Bacon. 2006. 45 - 54 .