mother and child relationship - the role of a mother is very much diminished in the poem with the romanticised, idyllic view of Doctor Kerlin, as Heaney, as a child, fails to recognsie the strength of his mother. However, he does notice and appreciate at the end, as he finally sees what really occurs. Yet, the mother still, through the rhetorical question maintains the facade of the doctor - perhaps a reflection of mothers trying to protect her children?