My Mother at Sixty-Six (Kamala Das) — Practice

Question 1

Identify and explain the two similes used to describe the poet's mother in 'My Mother at Sixty-Six'.

Accepted Answer

SIMILE 1: 'her face ashen like that of a corpse' — The mother's sleeping face is compared to the face of a dead person. 'Ashen' means pale grey. The poet is struck by how still and drained of colour her mother looks while dozing — as if she were already dead. This shocking simile shows the poet's sudden, terrible recognition of her mother's mortality. SIMILE 2: 'wan, pale as a late winter's moon' — The mother is compared to the moon in late winter — dim, fading, and almost extinguished. 'Wan' means pale and sickly. A late winter's moon is near the end of its visible arc — metaphorically, the mother is in the 'late winter' of her life. The second simile is gentler but equally sorrowful — the beauty of the winter moon acknowledges the mother's dignity even in aging.

Question 2

Why does the poet 'smile and smile and smile' at the end of the poem? What is the relationship between the smile and 'my childhood's fear'?

Accepted Answer

THE SMILE AS MASK: At the airport, parting from her mother, the poet can only say 'see you soon, Amma' and smile. She does not express what she actually feels — the terror that her aging mother may die before they meet again. The smile is a MASK. She smiles not from happiness but to PROTECT her mother from seeing her daughter's grief. She smiles to maintain normalcy — to prevent the farewell from becoming the wordless acknowledgment of what it might be (a final goodbye). The REPETITION ('smile and smile and smile') shows the EFFORT required: one smile might break; she must sustain three. THE RELATIONSHIP TO CHILDHOOD'S FEAR: The poet describes 'that old familiar ache, my childhood's fear.' This fear — of losing her mother — goes back to CHILDHOOD. Even as a young child, she felt this terror; it has been her companion for decades. As an adult, the fear is no longer irrational but REASONABLE: her mother is 66, aging, sleeping like a corpse in the passenger seat. The ancient childhood fear has become the adult's knowledge of mortality. The smile is what she does with the fear — she cannot express it, cannot act on it, cannot stop her mother from aging. So she smiles. It is a deeply human response: we perform cheerfulness when we are most terrified.

Question 3

How does Kamala Das use contrast and imagery to express the theme of aging, love, and loss in 'My Mother at Sixty-Six'? What makes the poem universally resonant?

Accepted Answer

THE POEM'S CONTRASTS — ITS ARCHITECTURE: The poem is built on two central contrasts that work simultaneously: CONTRAST 1 (Outside vs Inside the Car): Outside the car, the world is full of life and movement — 'young trees sprinting,' 'merry children spilling out of their homes.' This is the world of youth, vitality, and the future. Inside the car, the mother dozes — still, pale, aging. The poet is suspended between these two worlds: physically in the car (with her aging mother) but aware of the rushing world outside. This contrast makes the mother's stillness more poignant: life continues everywhere; the mother is approaching its end. CONTRAST 2 (What the Poet Feels vs What She Shows): The poet feels terror — the old childhood fear, the recognition of mortality, the grief of a daughter who loves her mother. What she shows: a smile. 'All I did was smile and smile and smile.' This internal/external contrast is the poem's emotional climax. The smile IS the poem's central image — the bridge between feeling and showing, between love and loss. THE IMAGERY — TWO SIMILES: The poem's most powerful images are its two similes for the mother. 'Ashen like a corpse' is STARK — it names the fear directly; the sleeping mother looks dead. 'Pale as a late winter's moon' is BEAUTIFUL — the mother is compared to something celestial, even in aging; her fading has the quiet dignity of a moon near the end of winter. The shift from the stark to the beautiful reflects the poet's dual perception: she sees death AND she sees her mother's enduring grace. WHY UNIVERSALLY RESONANT: Every person with a living parent will someday have the experience Kamala Das describes — the sudden, terrifying recognition that the parent who once seemed permanent is mortal, aging, fragile. The poem names an experience that is universal but rarely spoken: the child who must perform cheerfulness in the face of grief; the farewell that might be final; the smile that says 'see you soon' when the heart says 'what if I don't?' The poem's power is its HONESTY about this most private of fears — and its recognition that love itself is the source of the fear. We fear losing her because we love her. 'See you soon, Amma' is not a lie; it is a prayer, a hope, an act of love in the face of the uncontrollable.

Practice — My Mother at Sixty-Six (Kamala Das)

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