Have you ever wondered what an actually dystopian world would be like, well the Aged Mother is a dystopia even worse than hunger games. The short story is about a mother and a son in a dystopian world, where the law is to kill all old people, but the son refused and hid his mom, after that, the mother helped the governor on something that only old people can do, the governor then abolished the law.
In the aged mother, by Matsuo Basho, the author believes that the nation’s commandments are unfair and cruel, and also reflecting on the real world, Basho’s story shows that even though the laws are in place, there still is humanity. In the story, because they are in the mountains, it is very easy to get lost in the woods, so the mother dropped twigs on the path the son took as he carried her “The mountain road is full of dangers. LOOK carefully and follow the path which holds the piles of twigs. They will guide you to the familiar path farther down”. (Basho, 1) This shows that even when the son has to kill the mother, the mother still loves him and worry about him, and tried to help him one last time. The son was inspired by the mother’s act of kindness, so he refuses to kill her, take her down the mountain and hide her from the government. “Together we will follow the path of twigs, and together we will die”. (Basho, 1) His actions means certain death, but the son loves his mother and he won’t kill her and rather choose to be executed with her. These evidence shows that Basho’s intentions of writing this short story is to show that even in a horrible dystopia, there still is a honor, duty and love, which could inspire people in real life to be better people.
The Aged Mother
More about Matsuo Basho
