The story “The Aged Mother” is a story written by an old Japanese author named Matsuo Basho. In the story all elderly are immediately put to death, this was because the leader of the country wanted to only the young and strong in his nation. The story tells the tale of a young man whose mother had just been sentenced to death, the story shows the bound between a son and a mother and the love they have for each other.

In the story “The Aged Mother” the message that the author is trying to send is to always love and respect your family; when the word got out that the leader demanded that all elderly were to be sentenced to death once again, the son had no choice but to bring his mother to Mount Obatsuyama for her death. “Her son did not know the mountains many paths and his return might be one of danger, so she stretched forth her hand and snapping twigs from bushes as they passes, she quietly dropped a handful every few-steps of the way so that they climbed, the narrow path behind them was dotted at frequent intervals with tiny piles of twigs.” (Paragraph 4) Even though the mother knew that her own son was bringing her to her death she still cared and wanted to help him. When they finally reached the peak of the mountain, he broke down in tear and shouted “Oh honorable mother, your kindness breaks my heart! I will not leave you. Together we will follow the path of twigs, and together we will die!” (Paragraph 5) What the son just shouted showed how much they cared dearly for each other; the son is willing to sacrifice his life to save his mother even though the odds of the surviving were beyond low.