Insight from Loss

Maggie is not the first mother to have a negative reaction to the discovery of her child’s homosexuality. The difference in this case, however, is that her son died before he ever got the chance to tell her. To make matters more complicated, it is the very reason why they had become essentially estranged from each other.  Edward knew that Maggie would never approve of his lifestyle, and I believe she knew that also. Maggie isn't just grieving her son, she is grappling with the fact that had he been alive, she wouldn't have been able to accept him. This sad truth hurts Maggie deeply, and I believe she realizes the triviality of being gay in relation to being dead. Coming to this realization, Maggie sees that Gabriel is the only connection she has left to Edward, “She wanted to know about her grandboy, and Gabriel was the only one who could tell her what she wanted to know.” Her grandson’s death, while tragic, leads Maggie to respect other people’s decisions without laying her judgement on them. We see this at the end when she allows Morton Henry to continue working her fields on Sunday, stating, “You do what you got to do, just like the rest of us.” Too often people must experience difficult situations in order to change their perspectives.