Who are the most vulnerable people in a society? Children! The proof in
literature, through the monologue of a mother who gets carried away...---- "They are me, I am them": from the title, the atmosphere is set.Someone says "I", it's a mother, and we are in her head, she thinks of"them". "They, them", these are his children. A boy and a girl, we won'tknow much more, despite the 160 pages of the novel, throughout which itis only about them. ---- And the whole point is there, to show, in theform of a first-person speech, how it is possible to live only for yourchildren, without really being interested in them.The heroine, Sonia, dreams of being a perfect mother. She gets up withdeep in her guts the irrepressible desire to offer the best to herchildren; a perfectly bricked apartment, healthy and refined meals, afunny and cheerful mother. Every moment of their life, every decision isthought out based on what needs to be done for their happiness. Washingthe tiles every day, peeling kilos of onions, washing and ironing theirsocks... She gets exhausted with domestic work but looks forward to it;they will be so happy, we will laugh together, ideal family photo. Andthen something unexpected happens, the dish is burnt, or the boy didn'tsleep well and grumbles a little, and all these efforts for ungratefulpeople, she sees red, she breaks down, she screams, it's their fault too.Absolute or toxic love?This alternation of extreme gentleness and intense anger recurs veryregularly, day after day, always through the experience of this womanwho seems to us more and more overwhelmed, even little aware of what sheis inflicting on her "darlings". The more we advance in the novel andthe more the desire for perfection becomes the need for control, wewon't say more so as not to divulge anything!Let us note, however, that we begin reading touched by this motheroverflowing with love and we close the book frozen by so much toxicity.A fourth character is there, who has more body than the two children;she is the mother's mother. Her interventions, always desired, neverwelcome, reveal the complexity of the mother-daughter bond, when thedaughter is also a mother.Our heroine is trying to repair something from her childhood with herown children. Above all, she does not receive any of the proofs of lovethat her mother sends her, and expects others which do not come. Eternalmisunderstandings of family relationships...As the distance establishes between reader and heroine, we perceive inthis grandmother a concern, helpless but legitimate, which grows dayafter day. Alongside ours... Who could protect these children from thismother who wants them so much? From a literary point of view, it is a tour de force; Alma Brami verygently pushes us to be wary of her character, whose intentions seem sopure and whose vision we immediately adopt... From a more militant pointof view, we will take this text as an excellent reminder of omnipotenceadults over children, and the crucial importance of never losing sightof their vulnerability.Mélanie (AL's friend)Alma Brami, They are me, I am them, Éditions Mercure de France, August2023, 160 pages, 17 euros.https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Lire-Alma-Brami-Ils-sont-moi-je-suis-eux_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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