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The novel doesn’t give us much direct information about Brian’s mother, but Brian’s emotions toward her and memories of home help piece together a fuller picture. At the beginning of the novel, Brian’s parents are freshly divorced, which clearly takes a toll on Brian. He is resentful toward his mother because he knows she was having an affair while she was still married to his dad. Brian discovered her affair while bicycling with his friend Terry, when he spotted his mother in a station wagon kissing another man. Brian does not tell his mother he knows about the affair—“The Secret,” as he calls it—so she does not fully understand his coldness or blame. Brian’s mother knows she has changed and uprooted her son’s life, but she wants to maintain her relationship with him.
From the few, brief comments the book gives us about Brian’s parents, and from the wistfulness of Brian’s memories of her, Brian’s mother seems loving. The language Brian uses to describe her is almost delicate. When Brian leaves her at the airport, he describes his mother’s voice as thin and vulnerable. When he talks about her routine, he describes her chatting and cooking, creating a warm environment. Memories of her meals fill his hungry daydreams. He imagines her worrying about people in South Africa and commenting on how cute a baby in a commercial is. When Brian’s mother takes him to the airport, she wants to talk with him about his resentment so they can heal and return to their old routine. Brian’s mother genuinely cares for her son, and it hurts her that he is so hurt by her decisions. She gives Brian the titular hatchet as a peace offering, and it ends up becoming one of his most valuable tools for survival. However, she also cares about satisfying her own desires and shaping a life she wants, even if that hurts other people around her. Taken together, Brian’s mother is a complicated woman who cannot fit neatly into a box.
