Sons and Lovers

This morning on my flight to Albuquerque I finished DH Lawrence's Sons and Lovers. It was a little difficult to identify who the protagonist was intended to be. On the one hand, the story followed Paul Morel, a young man looking for love as a twenty-something youth. But on the other hand, we followed his mother, a strong woman whose husband was so neglectful that she compensated with adoration for her sons.

I am very close to my parents. I always say that one of the few topics that bring me to tears during movies are corny father/son moments. This was a story that stuck me emotionally with it's mother/son moments. The relationship that Paul shared with his mother was unmatched. He struggled to search for a woman to settle down with and marry because he was constantly looking for a woman similar to his mother. She practically raised him on her own, and she was more devoted to her sons than most parents are. Specifically Paul, once her eldest son William died.

I think the thing I enjoyed most about this book was the commentary on sex: both physical intimacy and gender roles. Paul shuffles around between two girlfriends, and both of them feel the same way about him: he is a wonderful person, but refuses to give himself fully to either one of them. Perhaps it is because of his adoration for his mother, that he refuses to allow another woman into his life. He is extremely fickle about whether he wants to get married or not. With one of his girlfriends, Mirriam, I believe the reason he never commits to marriage is because he knows his mother does not approve. To Paul, that would be the worst offense. He does not wish to wrong his mother in any way.

With Clara it is different. She is married but separated from her husband. Paul continuously tries to convince her to get a divorce so they can be happy together, but she refuses. At one point in the novel she says that it is because he never fully gives himself to her. To Clara, he is holding back. I believe this too is a consequence of his mother. He can never find it in himself to abandon her, because that, in a sense, is how he would view it.

I did thoroughly enjoy this book. Was it my favorite book of all time? No. I certainly liked Lawrence's writing style and his character development. All I can say after finishing it is, on to the next one!