63 pages • 2 hours read
Jessamine ChanThe School for Good Mothers
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 7-10Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 7 Summary
The first lesson is about “motherese,” the way that American mothers speak to children in high-pitched voices, which always seemed unnatural to Frida and which her own mother did not do. The mothers are also supposed to make constant eye contact and answer all the dolls’ questions. Because they’re being monitored, Frida can’t ask Emmanuelle who made her, what her needs are, and what happens when she freezes. Instead, she asks if Emmanuelle is friends with the other girls, which she isn’t. The mothers practice different types of hugs and kisses, but not on the lips, which the instructors say is “European” and invites child molesters. They also think hugs should last three seconds, whereas Frida hugs Emmanuelle for three minutes. The dolls don’t receive nap time like human children their age would, but they also don’t react to sleep deprivation the way human children would, by getting fussy and irritable; instead, they become “subdued” and unresponsive, making the mothers’ classroom exercises difficult to complete.
Frida’s roommate Helen quits the program after the first day. Various rumors circulate, but Frida refuses to gossip, and other mothers verbally abuse her. Helen’s doll was aggressive and insulted her. She said the program was “psychological torture,” and since her son is already 17, she doesn’t have much to lose by quitting.
In class, the mothers continue practicing different types of hugs (for apologizing, encouragement, and the like), which all look the same. To prepare the “hug that soothes physical injury” (114), the instructors slap the dolls’ hands and faces, then expect the mothers to console the dolls with an expected hug. Frida reflects that this is abuse. The mothers fail to console the dolls, and the instructors say it’s their fault. The mothers all had slightly different experiences based on their dolls’ ages, but they were all terrible and involved abuse. Many teenage dolls verbally abused the mothers after being physically abused by instructors. However, Frida had a genuine moment with Emmanuelle, who immediately recognized her as “Mommy” in class, whereas most other dolls couldn’t remember who they had been with the previous day. However, Frida tries not to get too attached to Emmanuelle, whom she regards as a “stepping stone” that will lead her back to her real daughter.
At Thanksgiving, Linda wonders if her children’s needs are being met in foster care. Although she has six children, she can only call one each week. Frida asked her parents not to tell her extended family where she is, but she assumes they will, and her family will blame her English degree, her choice of a white man as a husband, or waiting until 37 to have a baby. At dinner, the women must say what they’re thankful for, and Frida says Emmanuelle, her daughter. There is a fire that evening, resulting in dozens of additional guards appearing overnight. Some find one guard attractive, but Frida discourages them because romance could interfere with their custody battles.
Frida meets with her assigned counselor, Ms. Thompson. Emmanuelle’s camera has been detecting negative emotions from Frida, which will interfere with her progress, so Frida is advised to stop having negative emotions. Frida, Meryl, and some others are enlisted for cleaning crew, because CPS reported their houses were messy.
Later, the women receive their 10-minute video call time. Susanna says Gust and Harriet are sick and asleep. Frida begs her to wake them up for six minutes until Harriet finally appears on-screen. The tired Harriet seems upset seeing her mother on a screen and in uniform, and cries and attempts to run off. Frida says she loves her, but Harriet doesn’t respond at first. As soon as Harriet speaks, time is up.
Chapter 8 Summary
Other mothers’ phone calls also went poorly, with families missing their calls due to Wi-Fi problems, time conflicts, and the like. Frida struggles to bond with Emmanuelle, feeling like she’s “cheating” Harriet out of love by giving it to Emmanuelle instead. The instructors give the dolls toys, then take them away (not as a consequence, but as a pre-planned teaching moment), leaving the mothers to teach them “forgiveness.” Frida receives a new roommate, Roxane, a young Black woman whose seven-month-old son is in foster care because she let her 12-year-old niece babysit him when she was called into work unexpectedly. She asks Frida what developments she’s missing this year, and laments her baby not remembering her when she gets out. Some mothers make progress with their dolls despite the abusive instructors and unrealistic lessons. In Frida’s class, the star student is Linda; this results in others resenting her. Finally, by channeling the empathy she felt when Harriet was in pain, Frida is able to console Emmanuelle.
Weekend cleaning crew work continues for Frida and Meryl, and when it snows, they shovel it. Other mothers have different weekend duties or classes based on specific deficiencies. Meryl feels like the instructors pick on her because she’s the youngest; she also admits she slept with a guard. She hit her daughter, Ocean, a few times, and now she lives with her grandmother. Her father left her when she was three, but was not sent to “dad jail.” Meryl asks Frida if she’ll be able to have another child if she doesn’t get Harriet back, or if she’ll be too old. She notices Frida crying and hugs her using the strategy they practiced in class, the “hug to soothe the spirit” (137).
Lucretia asks the instructors if they have children, and they refute it, which doesn’t go over well. However, the director, Ms. Knight, does have four daughters. The evaluation for Unit 1 occurs. Frida passes, but not everyone does, and cliques change based on this new division.
The mothers read picture books about Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa to the dolls. When the dolls are told “no” too many times, sounds like car alarms go off, which exacerbate everyone’s’ stress as they echo throughout the building. Frida is distracted thinking about Harriet spending Christmas with Susanna’s white family, and not being allowed to see her Chinese family. Their last video call wasn’t smooth because the family was in a car and distracted, but Harriet smiled once.
The dolls get moodier as the holidays approach, which Lucretia thinks is meant to emulate real children. Emmanuelle says “hate you” to Frida. She is in pain, so the instructors show the mothers how to clean their dolls, using Emmanuelle as an example. Ms. Khoury opens a hole in Emmanuelle’s back and ladles out blue liquid, which must be changed once a month. She discards chunks of waste that are in the liquid, and sends the blue parts back to the factory for recycling. Frida then cleans out the cavity. This is traumatic for the dolls, who become vacant and withdrawn for days after the procedure. The instructors say they can’t turn the dolls off during the cleanings, because the liquid needs to be the right temperature.
Faulty internet interferes with Sunday calls. The dolls are still in pain, but begin to ask their mothers for comfort. They take the dolls outside to play in the snow, but Lucretia’s doll feels hot and doesn’t want to wear gloves, and dies from touching the snow. Linda tries to fight Lucretia, who pushes her away and gets in trouble.
Chapter 9 Summary
Lucretia and her doll, Gabby, are absent from the next class, which is about changing diapers and putting babies to sleep. The dolls throw jars of diaper rash cream at the instructors. The instructors force-feed the dolls so they need to be changed every half hour, which is uncomfortable and exhausting for them. Classes with older dolls work on potty training, but the blue liquid is toxic, so everyone has to wear face shields.
In January, Frida learns that Susanna has put herself, Gust, and Harriet on a gluten-free diet, causing Harriet to lose weight. Frida is dismayed; she feels this should be a reportable offense like hers, but Frida’s counselor says she’s overreacting. Distracted, Frida pinches Emmanuelle during a tantrum, and is sent to talk circle as punishment. They confess their transgressions, then have to say “I am a narcissist. I am a danger to my child” (157).
Frida’s counselor asks about her parents, implying that Frida’s shortcomings are a result of “intergenerational trauma.” Frida recalls the one time she heard her mother cry, when she told Frida about a miscarriage she had when Frida was two. She didn’t tell Frida about it until Frida was pregnant with Harriet. Frida thinks the counselor would love to hear this, but doesn’t share it, because she doesn’t want anyone to blame her parents.
On video, Harriet calls Susanna “Mommy Sue-Sue” (162), which Gust refuses to interfere with despite Frida’s request. Meanwhile, Emmanuelle stays mad at Frida for pinching her. The mothers practice putting dolls to sleep, and Frida fails the second test of Unit 1.
Chapter 10 Summary
In February, Frida loses phone privileges because she failed the Unit 2 test. Lucretia has been expelled, and Meryl and Beth also failed Unit 2, so now Frida is close with them. Illnesses spread quickly through the school. The staff are given face masks, but not the mothers. They have to attend class anyway because “real mothers” can’t take sick days.
Unit 2 is about nutrition, in which the mothers practice cooking bland, child-friendly foods such as jam sandwiches, oatmeal, and pancakes with smiley faces on them, while the regular cooks take some time off. Everyone loses weight and becomes irritable from lack of proper nutrition. The mothers also practice feeding the dolls blue “food” which matches the color of their blood and urine “for consistency.” The dolls don’t have nutritional needs, so it’s difficult and time-consuming to get them to eat. Their refusal to eat is blamed on the mothers for not being maternal enough.
An 11-year-old boy doll runs into the electric fence that surrounds the school and dies. His “mother” is blamed for this “death by suicide,” and is told that she owes the school money for damaged equipment, and will most likely never get her real child back.
As of Chinese New Year, it’s been a month since Frida spoke to Harriet, but she prays for her family and Emmanuelle. The mothers practice curing their sick dolls, which the instructors claim can be done through “love.” The instructors set the dolls’ fevers to 103 degrees and expect the women to cure them by hugging the dolls. Frida begins to doubt herself as a mother.
Meryl and Beth want to run away from the school, but Frida thinks attempting to escape would get the women into an even worse situation. Meryl has continued seeing the guard whom she slept with. The school gives the mothers who still have phone privileges guidelines about what they can and cannot say, limiting the use of phrases like “I love you” (177). Linda’s son goes missing for a month.
Chapters 7-10 Analysis
The novel’s dystopian themes come through in the corruption, isolation, and faulty logic of the institution. The mothers begin to resemble citizens living under a totalitarian regime, forced to conceal their true thoughts, feelings, and desires, for fear they will be used against them. Not only can the women not trust authority figures, but they can’t fully trust each other, since they’re technically supposed to report any overheard talk of escape plans or other banned activities. Because of this panoptic environment, Frida often tries to silence her younger, more naive friends and discourage them from taking risky actions such as romantically pursuing guards. This is not because Frida blames them for wanting to escape or craving romance; rather, she is afraid they’re being monitored, and that any admission of her true thoughts will lead to the permanent removal of her daughter. The longer the women stay at the institution, the more poisonous Frida’s mind becomes, since she has to hide her negative emotions (which plays into the harmful idea of women who show emotions being “hysterical” and irrational)—with her doubting her own role as a mother.
The dolls are also further explored. The more time the women spend with the dolls, the more it becomes clear that they are “real” (capable of emotions and thoughts), causing the women to become more attached to them (and vice versa). The instructors begin abusing the dolls, calling into question The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence for the sake of teaching. Whereas the instructors claim that the use of “dolls” will protect “real” children from harm, the mothers come to regard the dolls as real (if not human) children, with the abuse and harm inflicted upon them also being real. The instructors physically and emotionally abuse the dolls in this section, which is shown to be immoral because the dolls react to the abuse like humans, either by lashing out and throwing tantrums, or becoming withdrawn and vacant.
Furthermore, the use of A. I. in this way is shown to be abusive to the mothers. Firstly, it’s morally questionable to introduce fake children for parents to bond with for a year, because of the damage that will come with separation. Secondly, the mothers have to watch their surrogate children be abused daily, and they’re not able to help or interfere because if they do, they could be expelled and permanently lose their real children. This causes the mothers to pit one of their “children” against the other. Additionally, the program continually hurts the mothers’ self-images because they are given impossible lessons that have nothing to do with real parenting, then are called failures when they can’t complete them. Ethics are further called into question when the older dolls begin trying to escape, but die because of the surrounding electric fence. This makes it clear that the dolls are not happy and that abusing them has real consequences.
The novel’s narration continues through Frida’s close third-person perspective, but her conversations with other mothers reveal the wider application of her experience. The novel’s problems are not just about Frida but all parents living in this hypothetical dystopian society that closely resembles contemporary American society. Additionally, the close third-person narration allows Frida’s thoughts and feelings to be shown in a way that they would not be otherwise, since she’s so closed off to the outside world out of necessity. In her mind, Frida often addresses the family court judge who will theoretically be reviewing her case at the end of her stay, telling them things they should know but probably won’t be told from the “data” being gathered.
For the most part, the novel continues to be written in present tense, with occasional lapses in time where details are filled in with past tense. The pacing is fairly consistent, but not every detail is narrated; sometimes, weeks are explained with exposition instead. This allows the novel to enhance scenes that are detailed in the moment, making them more dramatic and memorable. For example, the lesson in which the instructors slap the dolls is detailed, but not all subsequent lessons are.
