Motherhood

The subject of motherhood comes up frequently in The Tobacco Wives. The main two characters associated with this theme are Momma and Mitzy. The comparisons Maddie frequently draws between these two women highlight her evolving worldview due to her time spent in Bright Leaf.

To begin, Maddie resents the authority her mother wields over her. While ordering Maddie to pack their things Momma declares, “I’m the mother and you do as I say” (7). Maddie muses bitterly, “The mother. She always said it that way. Like she needed to remind me—or maybe herself—of her place” (7). Like most teenagers, Maddie feels she has outgrown the necessity of being parented. Being abandoned by Momma, then Aunt Etta, reveals to Maddie that she is in no rush to grow up. She longs for a maternal figure to tell her the right thing to do, which makes her...