The Orphan Collector: A Heroic Novel of Survival During the 1918 Influenza Pandemic

Content Warning: This section contains references to kidnapping.

Many of the mothers in this novel struggle to care for their children due to poverty, the epidemic, or both. Mrs. Lange dies before she can raise her children, leaving her 13-year-old daughter and four-month-old breastfeeding twins to fend for themselves. Bernice is unable to heal her infant son or get him help; she ultimately blames herself for his death. Mrs. Hudson struggles with the loss of her son, Leo, and replaces him with Cooper—the child Bernice stole from Rebecca.

Because of the women’s differing class positions, the motherhood motif develops the theme of Socioeconomic Differences and Access to Critical Care. It also raises the question of what makes someone a mother, especially during a time when parents are losing children and children are losing parents; Pia, for example, cares for many children maternally despite being a child herself. Breastfeeding is associated with motherhood, as many characters in the novel believe “a mother should suckle her children” (283). However, this physical connection between mother and child does not necessarily indicate blood relation, as both Bernice and Mrs. Hudson nurse infants who aren’t their own. The two scenes also highlight the difference in the women’s characters. Bernice nurses the twins to console herself about Wallis’s death: “Tears spilled down her cheek and she closed her eyes, fresh grief threatening to swallow her whole. Every ounce of her body ached for Wallis, for his small mouth at her nipple, his soft hand in hers as he nursed” (88). In comparison, Mrs. Hudson nurses Cooper for his own sake, saying, “I have to help this poor, hungry boy. Please, please forgive me. I promise, my sweet baby, I’ll love you with all my heart until the day I die” (284).