Summary of the text My mother's hands by Robert Fountain

Robert Fountain is an american writer. The year of his birth is unkown, but it is
said that he died in 1965. He spent his childhood in Ottawa's Lower Town and later
became a writer of short stories.
The title of the text - "My mother's hands" is not so appropiate to the context. The
title isn't very sugestive because it makes us think that the story will be about
mother and her hard work that she had done for family and how is reflected on her
hands. The true meaning of this expression is shown at the end of the text, when
the husband came home with a bottle of lotion for her hands.
We can determine the text as a life or a love story because the author describes
the relationship between one couple and their arguments in family.
Also, we can identify some global themes, such as love and the life lived by a
couple with all their feelings and thoughts. The narrator thought that it was
impossible to find something new in the person you care about, even after a long
marriage, but his parents proved him wrong. Althought, they didn't show it to the
outside world. Their love was strong and this thing kept them together for such a
long time.
The main characters are the old couple- husband and wife and their son, who is the
narrator of this story.
The story begins with a short description of the narrator's parents,who were in
their late seventies and who lived a very quiet life. He tryed to organize for them
some travels in the nature, but it had no effects on their old lives. One day, when
author usually came to bring some scallops for them, he was surprised by an
extraordinary thing : his parents were in a bad quarrel. They had different ideas on
an event from past. This situation ended with the husband's escape. Narrator and
his mother were very worried, so that he won't start drinking again as he did when
he was young. All the bad thoughts were shattered when the husband entered in
the house with a bottle of hands lotion, giving it to his beautiful and beloved wife.
The beggining of the story is very interesting , but unusual. It serves as the
opening at the text and showes the author's view about love between people.
I think that the main idea is : even after 50 years of marriage , the spuses still love
eachother deeply, in despite of the conflict that took place between them.
In the end, the author finally understands that his parents have a special
relationship.
The author's language is simple. The vocabulary is used in harmony with the theme
and with the described situations. It is colloquial and easy for the reader to
understand.
In the text, aren't used many stylistic devices, just a few comparisons to describe
how important mother's hands were for the husband : 'To my father, though, they
must have been the hands of a young woman he loved, a woman who had stayed

for a long time in his heart as precisely the same woman".

From my point of view, this is a wonderful story that can be read in a short time,
that supports the idea of unconditional love that still exists through the time.