Motherhood In The Manchurian Candidate

“Motherhood is the greatest potential influence either for good or ill in human life.”

(Goodreads). Though regarded as a benevolent unbreakable bond there is an obscured side to motherhood, a side that manipulates in exchange for selfish advancements. The Manchurian Candidate follows one mother, Eleanor Shaw, who uses her son, Raymond Shaw, for social and political advancements. Raymond is brainwashed by the Soviet government as a weapon to forward their communistic agenda. Later in the film the audience learns that Shaw was brainwashed due to his mother’s involvement and to secure Eleanor’s loyalty to the movement. During times in which a parent is working towards a goal such as Eleanor in The Manchurian Candidate, it truly shows the powers

Though in reality through camera angles and character placement in relation to one another the film makes an argument that motherhood has destroyed

It describes momism as “the demonic version of domestic ideology” (Rogin, 8) and the loss of the typical role of women in society prior to the war. Previously women were limited to managing the household but during the war the opportunities for women expanded. Being allowed these opportunities women had acquired a taste of the powers and liberties that came with them. As soon as the men returned back to their former roles and reestablished America as a patriarchal based society they forced women back to their structured household roles. Some women resented returning to their former roles of taking care of the home so instead they searched for new roles. Eleanor is an example of a woman who was willing to take control and gain back the places of power, though she abused the bond of motherhood to obtain it. As a woman during this time period Eleanor wouldn't be able to gain power of her own accord and instead had to manipulate her husband and son. Only by working through them as the true wielder of the power is Eleanor able to achieve her true