Philip and His Mother

Of Human Bondage

Philip's sense of his mother shifts from childhood loss to a lasting awareness of the love and memory she tried to leave him.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

The Last Embrace The Last Embrace from "Of Human Bondage". The Last Embrace Philip is brought to his mother's bedside, where she holds him and touches the foot that has troubled her.

The Last Embrace from "Of Human Bondage". The Last Embrace Philip is brought to his mother's bedside, where she holds him and touches the foot that has troubled her.

The Last Embrace Philip is brought to his mother's bedside, where she holds him and touches the foot that has troubled her. She dies soon after, leaving him too young to understand the full meaning of the farewell. Love and helplessness The scene establishes a bond Philip will experience mostly through memory. His mother's concern for his future contrasts with the uncertainty of the life that follows.

A Child's Refusal to Know A Child's Refusal to Know from "Of Human Bondage". A Child's Refusal to Know Emma explains that Philip's mother has gone to heaven, and he cries without fully understanding.

A Child's Refusal to Know from "Of Human Bondage". A Child's Refusal to Know Emma explains that Philip's mother has gone to heaven, and he cries without fully understanding.

A Child's Refusal to Know Emma explains that Philip's mother has gone to heaven, and he cries without fully understanding. Later, surrounded by his mother's clothes and scent, he imagines that she has merely gone out. Grief delayed His mind protects him from a loss too large to absorb. The memory of her bedroom becomes an intimate place where absence has not yet become final.

The Photograph's Purpose The Photograph's Purpose from "Of Human Bondage". The Photograph's Purpose A packet of photographs reveals that Philip's mother arranged to leave images of herself for her son.

The Photograph's Purpose from "Of Human Bondage". The Photograph's Purpose A packet of photographs reveals that Philip's mother arranged to leave images of herself for her son.

The Photograph's Purpose A packet of photographs reveals that Philip's mother arranged to leave images of herself for her son. She feared that he might grow up and forget what she looked like. Memory made tangible The photographs express a mother's attempt to remain present beyond death. Philip cannot yet grasp the full tenderness behind the gesture, but the images preserve it for later understanding.

A Letter from the Past A Letter from the Past from "Of Human Bondage". A Letter from the Past Among William Carey's papers, Philip finds a letter his mother wrote asking that his uncle guide him as godfather.

A Letter from the Past from "Of Human Bondage". A Letter from the Past Among William Carey's papers, Philip finds a letter his mother wrote asking that his uncle guide him as godfather.

A Letter from the Past Among William Carey's papers, Philip finds a letter his mother wrote asking that his uncle guide him as godfather. Its simple piety surprises him. A private tenderness The letter makes Philip confront the difference between the child his mother imagined and the man he became. He tears it up, feeling that its intimacy belongs to her alone.

A Memory Among the Dead A Memory Among the Dead from "Of Human Bondage". A Memory Among the Dead As Philip considers death and life's apparent meaninglessness, memories of his mother's love remain emotionally important.

A Memory Among the Dead from "Of Human Bondage". A Memory Among the Dead As Philip considers death and life's apparent meaninglessness, memories of his mother's love remain emotionally important.

A Memory Among the Dead As Philip considers death and life's apparent meaninglessness, memories of his mother's love remain emotionally important. He cannot reconcile the wish to see her again with the loss of belief in an afterlife. Affection beyond doctrine The attachment survives as feeling rather than theology. His mother's love remains one of the few bonds he regards as wholly disinterested.

on the morning of his mother's death

the day Philip is told his mother is dead

about a week after Philip moves to Blackstable

after William Carey's death

during Philip's final philosophical crisis