Magda Fertacz's The Mother

National identity is often viewed in a positive light as a sense of love for one’s country. Furthermore, national identity has the ability to unite a group of people through their agreed feelings. However, the sense of national identity establishes differences between national identities. For the Polish nation one main characteristic of national identity is the sense of victimhood. Throughout much of Poland’s history Poland has been attacked frequently. Many Poles especially refer back to the three Partitions and World War II to justify this victimhood. Additionally, Poles not only view themselves as the victims but they view the Germans and Russians as the villains. Such identities also stem from the same historical events. This Polish victimhood

This becomes a problem due to the fact that future generations did not experience the conflict and have no connection to such an identity. Yet, they carry on this notion about themselves and other nations. Fertacz’s characteristics of the Mother symbolizes this negative aspect of national identity. Throughout the play the Mother expresses her pride for not only her country but also for her son and father who both gave up themselves for their country. Over the course of the play, her Son and Ursula both try to convince her that she what she believes in is a false representation carried over by the last

National identity can be a very dangerous concept that dehumanizes individuals through the method of selective memory and the passing down of an identity from one generation to the next. National identity silences the history and pain of another while at the same time silencing the current’s generation’s ability to critically think about what is occurring around them. Fertacz employs the Mother, Son, and Ursula to demonstrate the faults and criticisms of the Polish national identity. The Polish national identity consist that of victimhood and the blaming of Germans and Russians for the pain. However, such a national identity morphed into a public and private identity, creating a national identity for the world and one for Polish society. The private Polish national identity is selfish, allowing only Poles to be able to experience sorrow from historical events. In history both Germans and Russians have suffered similar fates that Poles have. Yet Poles do not consider themselves to have any similarities with those other nationalities that suffered. As witnessed by Ursula and the Mother, both Germans and Poles have similarities that both end in tragedy. Based on the Polish national identity a Pole must ignore that far into the past but at the same time they cannot look at the