Mother’s love
The narrator’s mother and wife do not get on well, and they do not conceal their mutual hostility. The reason of this is Elizabeth’s obsessed ideas about animal rights and Norma’s disapproval of these ideas. But the narrator digs deeper and supposes that “probably his mother would have chosen not to like any woman he married”. One of the most pathetic ironies of life – mother’s incapability of letting her son.
A barefooted writer
The narrator likes the books of his mother, and really considers her extremely talented. However, there always was one thing which astonished him. “It always puzzled him, when he was a child, that a woman who wrote books for a living should be so bad at telling bedtime stories”. His mother lacks animation, imagery was not one of her strong points. Such a portrayal of a writer ironically alludes to a legend of a shoemaker who always was barefooted.
Tired
Until the end of the novel, it becomes obvious that Elizabeth Costello is tired, not only physically but spiritually as well. Her son John notices it, and he comes to such a conclusion basing on what she had said in her lectures. It seems that Elizabeth has lost strength to fight for what she believes in. There occur situations in life when a person comes to the point where she/he does not know how to go on. Elizabeth has come to such a point, and the reason for this is her age and the results of her efforts to change something. It is ironic that it does not matter how much a person tries to change the world: if this world does not want to be changed, a single person can do nothing.
