The mother’s nervous condition

The mother’s nervous condition is described as an emotional or nervous episode with a visible physical effect: the left side of her face becomes immobile, including her eye and mouth. It unsettles the young man’s mother and is something she does not want discussed, yet he tells the narrator about it while reassuring him that the episode has passed and that she is asleep.

Symptoms and Recurrence

The young man distinguishes his mother’s condition from a physical illness. When an episode occurs, the left side of her face freezes: she cannot move her eye or mouth. He compares that side of her face to a cracked vase, an image that gives the symptom a startling, fragile appearance without suggesting that it is fatal.

The episodes are temporary but not described as a complete cure. The young man says that one good night’s sleep leaves her better and returns her to her usual self by morning. He also acknowledges that sleep does not cure her entirely. His account presents a condition that recurs, visibly alters her face, and then recedes into ordinary life.

The Son’s Account

The narrator learns about the condition when he asks why the young man was absent from the beach. The young man says he spent the day resting in his room because his mother was unwell. He clarifies that she is not suffering from a physical ailment but from an emotional, nervous condition, and reports that she is now sound asleep.

To explain how such a condition can produce different effects, he compares nervous disorders to earthquakes: the underlying energy may be the same, while its consequences vary according to where it happens. He then describes his mother’s particular symptom. The explanation moves from a general account of nervous disorders to the intimate detail of her immobile face, making the condition legible through his attentive observation rather than through a medical diagnosis.

Privacy and Disclosure

The young man asks the narrator not to tell his mother that he has spoken about her condition, because she hates it when anyone discusses it. His request establishes that the symptom is not simply a private medical fact: its visibility does not make it available for conversation on her terms. The narrator agrees, adding that he and his companion are leaving the next day and are unlikely to speak with her.

The disclosure is therefore limited and confidential. The young man has shared enough for the narrator to understand the mother’s episode, but the account preserves her wish for silence. His final response—that it is too bad the narrator will not have a chance to speak with her—sounds sincere, while leaving the mother herself outside the conversation.