Mother

"Mother" by Maksim Gorky is a novel written during the late 19th century, a period marked by social and political upheaval in Russia. The book explores the life of a working-class family struggling with the oppressive realities of industrial labor and familial relationships, centering around the character of Pelagueya Vlasova, a mother dealing with her abusive husband, Michael, and the eventual emergence of her son, Pavel, into consciousness regarding the plight of the working class. The opening portion of "Mother" introduces a bleak setting where the factory dominates the lives of its workers, who are depicted as weary and oppressed as they toil under harsh conditions. Gorky paints a vivid picture of life in a workingmen's suburb, highlighting the societal issues such as alcoholism, domestic violence, and the cyclical nature of poverty. We meet Michael, who is cruel and brutish, and his son Pavel, a character who will undergo transformation throughout the narrative. As Michael’s struggles inevitably lead to despair, Pavel appears to rise against this prevailing darkness, setting the stage for a narrative that promises exploration of themes of rebellion, hope, and the quest for justice. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Alexei Maximovich Peshkov, popularly known as Maxim Gorky, was a Russian and Soviet writer and proponent of socialism. He was nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Before his success as an author, he travelled widely across the Russian Empire changing jobs frequently, experiences which would later influence his writing.