People of the Book

Though Hanna’s mother is also a fully-fledged character in her own right, she serves a symbolic purpose in the novel and in Hanna’s life. Hanna associates her mother with her own self-doubt, and her mother appears in moments when Hanna most doubts herself. Early in the novel, Hanna stands before the manuscript and pauses: “Always a moment of self-doubt, at the instant before you begin. The light glinted on the bright steel, and made me think of my mother” (21). Moments of self-doubt are immediately associated with Hanna’s mother, and this persists throughout the novel. Hanna’s mother’s criticism only further cements this connection, as Hanna fights the perspective her mother has about her work, her relationships, and almost every element of her daughter’s life. Hanna overcomes her mother, and her self-doubt, at the end of the novel. She changes her name, aligning herself with her father, and stops talking to her mother entirely. After this, she feels confident and acts for herself; she doesn’t think of her mother or her criticism. By taking a new name and forgetting her mother, she loses the part of herself that doubted her own ability to succeed.