Character Analysis
Mary
She has a simple face, small and delicate, a mosaic of glass. There's only one light hitting her, and it makes the glass shimmer. Her pale skin has almost completely grown over the pearls around her neck. They look like a strand of perfectly shaped tumors. She's wearing a thin, almost gauzy shirt. Through it, Pressia sees the outline of a giant metal cross embedded in her stomach, chest, even up into the center of her throat, pushing back her shoulders. (37.12)
Add a small child's mouth fused into her bicep, and what do you get? Our Good Mother is a clear example of a Mary (as in the mother of Jesus) figure. She has a cross in her chest, a baby in her arm, and is called "Our Good Mother." 'Nuff said.
But the importance of being a Mary figure is how incredibly strong she is as a feminine character. She calls all men "Deaths," and even tells Pressia that she helped Bradwell and Partridge "in part because you are female. We believe in saving our fellow sisters" (37.32).
So maybe she isn't a pure Mary figure, but she's definitely representative of a feminine force. It's interesting to see a woman who represents the mother of Christ as someone who despises men. Nevertheless, girl power is at its finest when we are introduced to Our Good Mother. She's a fierce leader who won't take "no" for an answer, and is also the leader of a group of female warriors.
Fun Fact: Julianna Baggott once told her students that she had no idea Our Good Mother was a Mary figure. But when people who read Pure pointed that out to her, she was like, "Oh yeah, you're right."