Tozzi, Eyes Shut

In Eyes Shut, Pietro's mother, Anna, experiences nervous convulsions that ultimately lead to her death because of her inability to connect with her son. Early in the story, it is mentioned that there have been seven children of Anna and Domenico before Pietro, but they all died before they left the wet nurse. Anna deeply cares about Pietro because he was the only child of hers to survive. She wants to do what is right for him, but has much difficulty. "She seemed to herself not to belong to life any more, never to have done anything for him" (49). Anna is unhappy that she cannot fully care for her child and finds trouble in continuing to live. She wants to help Pietro become successful in life, but she does not have the ability. As well, Anna realizes that she is becoming absent in Pietro's life and does not know what to do about it. "She didn't know how to talk to him. She realized he was growing away from her and without her being able to tell him any of the things it would have cheered her to say" (50). Anna is sad that she is unable to fill the motherly role that she wants to provide to Pietro. Lastly, her sadness becomes worse until she dies from nervous convulsions after thinking about her son. Anna decided she would finally be an active role in her son's life, so she arranges for Pietro to meet a priest for advice. "All of a sudden [Anna] felt her heart tighten, tighter and tighter, but she couldn't cry out" (68). Her last thoughts were about her son, and she wanted to start becoming a strong motherly figure for Pietro. Unfortunately, her anxiety led her to die and Pietro to have a parental role that is unfulfilled.