afternoons- quote explanations

• "Young mothers assemble"

  • too young to be weighed down by weight of immense responsibility
  • should be living their own lives
  • army of young mothers
  • 'mothers' implies they're restricted by gender stereotypes
  • verb 'assemble' makes lives seem regimented
  • alludes to assembly, reiterates youth of mothers
• "'Setting free their children"

  • children still young and have freedom- not constrained like their mothers
  • no responsibilities
  • mothers have given their freedom to their children
  • language of imprisonment highlights the women's restricted domestic lives
• "Behind them, at intervals"

  • fathers take a step back from the responsibility of parenthood
  • only there at times as they still have their own lives
  • not completely trapped in this cycle- free from the mundane routine
  • 'them' stresses anonymity
  • possible continuation of prison imagery
• "Our wedding, lying near the television"

  • tv more important than their marriage
  • italicised, implies its pushed aside- loss of hope
  • pluralised expresses numerous marriages ruined in this way
  • mocking the wedding/relationship
  • 'lying' = pun- lives women have dreamed of became a lie
• "Their beauty has thickened"

  • mothers have lost their looks and gained weight due to having children
  • perhaps more beautiful in a way as they're now mothers
  • beauty is more than just skin deep
  • metaphor to suggest they lost their freedom and now are more cynical due to this