Plot (Scottish Highers English): Revision Notes
Plot
Overview
Mother and Son by Iain Crichton Smith traces a single evening in the lives of John and his mother, who live together in a croft. The mother has been bedridden for ten years, and John has remained at home to care for her and work the land. The story examines how their relationship has deteriorated into a pattern of cruelty and resentment. The plot centres on John's growing awareness of his entrapment and builds towards a moment where he must decide how to respond to years of abuse.
Opening: John returns home
The story begins at the end of a working day. John has been outside in harsh weather conditions, labouring on the croft. The opening quotation establishes the bleakness of his situation:
Opening imagery:
"His clothes were dripping as he came in. The water was streaming down his cheeks, a little reddened by the wind and rain."
This image of John soaked and exhausted sets the tone for what follows. The rain that soaks him physically mirrors the emotional coldness he will encounter inside the house.
He returns not to warmth or welcome, but to his mother's demands and criticisms. By opening with John in this state, Smith establishes that John's life is one of hard physical labour with no comfort or appreciation.
The oppressive home environment
When John enters the house, the setting itself reflects the toxic relationship. The home is described as being "in partial darkness, for, though the evening was not dark, the daylight was hooded by thick yellow curtains which were drawn across the width of the window."
The darkness is artificial rather than natural. The mother keeps the curtains drawn, shutting out light and the outside world. The word "hooded" suggests concealment and suffocation. The thick yellow curtains introduce colour imagery that recurs throughout the story.
Colour symbolism:
Yellow and green appear repeatedly in descriptions of the home, colours associated with sickness and decay. This setting creates an oppressive atmosphere that physically represents the relationship between mother and son.
The house has become a prison, cut off from light and life.
The pattern of conflict
The plot reveals that this evening is not unusual. The narrative explains the established pattern of their interactions:
The routine nature of abuse:
"At these times her little bitter barbs passed over him or through him to come out on the other side. Most often however they stung him and he stood quivering in his flesh, and he would say something angrily with the reflex of the wound."
This quotation shows how the mother's attacks have become routine. The metaphor of "bitter barbs" presents her words as weapons that pierce John physically.
Sometimes he manages to let them pass, but usually they wound him and he reacts defensively. The phrase "reflex of the wound" indicates that John's angry responses are automatic and involuntary, like touching something hot. He cannot help but react to the pain she causes. This establishes that the conflict we witness is not a one-off argument but the normal state of their relationship.
John's situation: ten years of entrapment
The plot provides crucial backstory that explains how this situation developed. John's mother has been confined to bed for a decade. During this time, John has been unable to leave home or pursue work like other young men from the village. When his mother questions why he has not completed his work for the day, John responds:
"'You know well enough', he shouted, 'why I haven't my day's work'. It's because you've been in bed there for ten years now."
This outburst reveals John's resentment and frustration. He has sacrificed ten years of his life to care for his mother and maintain the croft. While other men his age have left the village for jobs and independent lives, John remains trapped.
The plot relies on this backstory to help us understand the depth of John's frustration and the length of time this situation has continued. His anger is not about this single day but about years of accumulated sacrifice and mistreatment.
The mother's relentless cruelty
As John prepares his mother's tea, she continues to attack him verbally. Rather than showing gratitude for his care, she undermines his confidence and abilities. She tells him:
"Why, you'd be no good in a job. The manager would always be coming to show you what you had done wrong, and you'd get confused with all those strange faces and they'd laugh at you."
Psychological manipulation:
This attack serves multiple purposes in the plot. The mother deliberately destroys any possibility that John might leave. She convinces him that he is incompetent and would fail in the outside world. By telling him that strangers would laugh at him, she plays on his insecurities and isolates him further. The plot shows that the mother is not simply ungrateful but actively manipulative, working to keep John trapped and dependent on her.
She also tells John that he is nothing like his grandfather, after whom he was named:
"My father was never like you. He was a man who knew his business."
This comparison belittles John by holding up an idealized version of his grandfather. The mother implies that John has inherited some form of mental illness from his father's side of the family and suggests he will end up in an asylum. The plot reveals the mother's cruelty extends to attacking John's identity and his sense of self-worth. Despite the viciousness of these comments, John does not retaliate physically, though the narrative makes clear that her words continue to hurt him deeply.
The turning point: the bus
A transformation begins when external sounds intrude into the isolated world of the croft. A bus passes by, and John recognizes what it represents:
"That would be the boys going to the town to enjoy themselves. He shivered in his loneliness and then rage took hold of him again."
The critical moment:
This moment functions as the turning point in the plot. The sound of the bus reminds John of the life he is missing. While other young men from the village travel to town for entertainment and social connection, John remains isolated in the dark house with his abusive mother.
The verb "shivered" suggests both physical cold and emotional response. His loneliness becomes unbearable in this moment. The rage that follows is different from his earlier defensive reactions. This is a deeper, more transformative anger.
The climax: John's moment of clarity
John's rage builds towards what appears might be a violent confrontation. The narrative reveals his thoughts about wanting to "smash the teacup, smash the furniture, smash the house." He considers that he might "avenge her insults with his unintelligent hands."
Building tension through repetition:
The repetition of "smash" creates a rhythm of violence and destruction. John imagines destroying everything around him, including the oppressive house itself. The phrase "unintelligent hands" echoes his mother's constant message that he is stupid and incompetent. Even in his moment of fury, her voice is in his head.
The plot creates tension here because violence seems imminent. After years of abuse, John appears ready to retaliate physically.
The resolution: opening the door
The plot takes an unexpected turn. Instead of harming his mother or destroying the house, John makes a different choice. He turns his back on his mother and walks to the door. He opens it and stands in the doorway, listening to the rain.
Subverting expectations:
This ending subverts the reader's expectations. Rather than an explosion of violence, John chooses withdrawal. By opening the door, he symbolically opens the possibility of escape. The narrative refers to the house as a "dark cave", and suggests hope that John might step outside this cave and live his life.
The rain that appears in the opening quotation returns in the closing image. However, the rain now exists outside the oppressive house. John faces towards it rather than returning soaked and defeated. This creates ambiguity about what John will do next but suggests the possibility of change.
The plot structure is complete but open-ended. We do not know if John will actually leave or if this is simply another moment of resistance that will pass. The story ends at a moment of potential transformation rather than resolution.
Key Points to Remember:
- The plot covers a single evening, but backstory reveals ten years of this destructive relationship
- John returns home exhausted from working in the rain, only to face his mother's constant criticism
- The mother keeps the curtains drawn, creating an oppressive, darkened environment associated with sickness through yellow and green imagery
- The turning point occurs when John hears a bus passing and realizes the life he is missing while trapped caring for his abusive mother
- The climax involves John's rage and thoughts of violence, but the resolution shows him turning away from his mother to stand at the open door listening to the rain
- The ending is ambiguous—John may escape the "dark cave" of the house, or this may be another temporary moment of resistance