6 Chapter 6 The Rejection of Motherhood: A Swedish Perspective

Experiencing feelings of guilt within a Swedish society, can be concluded as a single driving force of a woman feeling a sense of lacking as some kind of maternal provider. These lingering feelings of guilt are not necessarily caused by the role of motherhood itself, rather the absence of it in the lives of those children whom are needed in order to be cared for and protected the most. I chose to emphasize the traditional role of a mother in Sweden giving up their child to another maternal figure apart from themselves, that embody the proper means of supporting a family with access to money and other accompanying needs and opportunities that a child must receive, to the overall culture of contemporary motherhood in Sweden that was essentially illustrated by the author of the book Sun Storm by Asa Larsson. The novel Sun Storm‘s fictional depiction of motherhood within main character Rebecka Martinsson corresponds with the reality of how actual mothers in Sweden raise their children, as the role of a mother can be driven by internal factors such as: desperation, anger, rejection, and courage, in order to emphasize the maternal guilt and isolation women in Sweden often struggle with when raising a child, fundamentally motivating them to seek out the most beneficial opportunities and resources in order to protect any child, despite being biological connected to them or not.

With Rebecka being opted out of the opportunity to have children of her own through a previous abortion, and being ostracized by her entire community as a result, she felt it was in her best interest to simply just start over after being forced to move away. In an attempt to proclaim a life of motherhood, she did so through children that were not her own, as Sarah and Lova were Rebecka’s childhood friend Sanna’s children, who in her mind, was not the best woman suited for taking on the role of a mother. When it comes to making sure a child feels important, protected, or safe within any given environment, it is absolutely imperative to establish firm reasoning with the child behind doing so, in order to properly get your message across. Nowak and Thomsson’s article “Motherhood as Idea and Practice: A Discursive Understanding of Employed Mothers in Sweden” indicates that, “the mother’s physical and emotional accessibility will immunize the child and guarantee that the child will become a stable and emotionally well-equipped in the future”(415). Contrary to popular belief, Rebecka felt that there was a clear lack of effort on Sanna’s end of the parenting department, so as a result of her various acts of desperation, Rebecka went out of her way to risk her own life, in order to save the children that were not even hers to begin with in the first place. By keeping Sarah and Lova’s best interest in mind, Rebecka demonstrated how the role of a mother can be enforced, despite the given situation. Contrary to how Rebecka is depicted as a mother in the book, essentially contradicts how actual mothers in Sweden view taking care of a child…as a “women’s adaptation and responsibility for their children are natural consequences of their biology” (423).

By being the person that saved Sanna’s children from being murdered by the same person who had previously killed their uncle Viktor, Rebecka’s devotedness to these girls was highlighted in a way that demonstrated her willingness to step out of her comfort zone and be the defining moment that motivated Rebecka to take on the traditional role of a mother. After being confronted with acts of rejection stemming from Sanna, rather than receiving the appreciation of saving her children that she rightfully deserved, it could be implied that Sanna could be experiencing feelings of guilt, as mothers in Sweden are “ultimately held accountable for the needs, health, and development of their children” (Social Issues Research Centre 15). Although Rebecka was not necessarily the girls’ biological mother, she continued to care for them and their overall safety from a maternal perspective overall, and by doing so prior to and after Viktor’s murder being solved, this act of generosity and kindness was ultimately more than their biological mother Sanna ever did in the first place.

As a result of Rebecka courageously saving Sanna’s children form being murdered by the same alleged abuser apart of Viktor’s death, and Sanna fundamentally rejecting the idea of being able to see them completely frustrates Rebecka immensely, demonstrating to the reader of the text that the idea of motherhood can be interpreted into a larger grand scheme of things…as motherhood does not need to be determined by a woman giving physical birth to a child or not. Her motherly instincts ultimately drove her to kill people, in order to ensure the safety, protection, and overall well being of Sanna’s children, was viewed by surrounding civilians within the Swedish community within the text as morally acceptable, as it was viewed as paralleling a concept of “self-defense” and being viewed as a hero of the community, rather than a cold hearted murderer. Even though society viewed her as a hero, whose courageous actions should not be punished for being the one to kill the bad guys, Rebecka still continued to struggled with her internal moral compass, as she thought to herself, “It’s him or the girls…don’t look at it…don’t think…Sarah and Lova” (Larsson 290). This reoccurring idea of fighting for the rights of a child, despite the literal circumstances of the situation at hand, can be indicated through other means of motivation and desire in regards to procedures taken in order to secure the safety of those children involved. That is exactly what Queen Silvia of Sweden did, as she felt included to fight for the ethical rights of a child, and took matters into her own hands, as she explained during her speech at the United Nations that she believed that “the right of children to a childhood free from violence, abuse, and exploitations is our collective responsibility” (Childhood USA, 2019).

As you can see from my essay, it can be concluded that there is a direct correlation between how the contemporary culture of motherhood can be depicted within Swedish communities through understanding how a traditional mother’s role can be displayed within a community, while being understood as a feeling driven by motivating factors such as: desperation, anger, rejection, and courage. With that being said, the novel Sun Storm‘s fictional depiction of motherhood within main character Rebecka Martinsson corresponds with the reality of how actual mothers in Sweden raise their children, as the role of a mother can be driven by internal factors such as: desperation, anger, rejection, and courage, in order to emphasize the maternal guilt and isolation women in Sweden often struggle with when raising a child, fundamentally motivating them to seek out the most beneficial opportunities and resources in order to protect any child, despite being biological connected to them or not.

Works Cited

“Out Of The Shadows H.M. Queen Silvia Of Sweden Speech.” Childhood USA, www.childhood-usa.org/out-of-the-shadows-hm-queen-silvia-of-sweden.  (Links to an external site.)Accessed 1 December 2019.

Larson, Asa. Sun Storm. New York, New York, Bantam Dell, 2003

Elvin-Nowak, Ylva and Helene Thomsson. “Motherhood As Idea And Practice.” Gender & Society, vol. 15, no. 3, 2001, pp. 407-428.

“The changing face of motherhood in Western Europe: Sweden”. The Social Issues Research Centre, www.sirc.org/publik/motherhood_in_Sweden.shtml.  (Links to an external site.)Accessed 15 December 2019.