Return to Robert A. Heinlein main page Books-Commentary - Robert A. Heinlein Heinlein: Was Maureen Johnson a bad mother? In "To Sail Beyond the Sunset" we learned that Maureen Johnson had so many kids that as she got older she lost contact with most of them! It seemed she had so many kids because she made money from the Howard Foundation for each child she had. If she had been less concerned with money and had fewer children, do you think she would have done a better job of parenting? Take her kids Donald and Priscilla. When things got a bit rough she immediately got rid of them and never thought about them again. I guess they interfered with her sexing. Maybe she shouldn't have been paid to have so many children, she might have cared more for them if she had had fewer. Click here to post a message        The commentator Pedantic posts on 6/24/2005 4:03:02 PM First of all, mister commentator, you got it wrong about who got paid for having babies. It wasn't Maureen, it was her husband. Second, the whole point of the story was that Maureen was a good mother. She got rid of the two brats after, having been removed from the good influence of their mother and sent to live with their father, they returned, spoiled rotten. And, she did not dump them when it got rough; she worked with them first. Only after finding out that the children were damaged goods, unlikely, beyond all hope, of repair did she give up on them and send them back to their father. No, as much as I despised Heinleih's loose morality in his later works, his idea about being good parents were spot on, and Maureen was a good mother.        The commentator Kimberly posts on 6/24/2005 12:34:39 PM What an asinine statement! Maureen is shown throught all of Heinlein's work to be a devoted, loving, involved mother. Where did you think "Mama Maureen" came from? I recall several generations across the galaxy calling her that. You seriously need to reread Maureen... and pay close attention to her heartache over Donnie and Priss. Click here to post a message Other Recent Robert A. Heinlein Discussions If Heinlein had written one more book.... Heinlein - To Sail Beyond the Sunset - Grandpa does the entire family? Do you agree with Heinlein's advocacy of Incest and Polygasms? 11/6/2009 3:45:26 AM Robert A. Heinlein 10/4/2009 4:43:53 PM Was The Cat Who Walked Through Walls a Tribute to Capitalism? 10/3/2009 9:49:40 AM Did Robert Heinlein believe in racial & genetic purity? 10/3/2009 9:23:32 AM Heinlein and polygamy: If you were in love, would you share your woman? 10/3/2009 9:20:31 AM Heinlein: Would you use a time machine to have sex with Mom? 8/19/2008 12:02:45 AM Was the protagonist of - The Door into Summer - a pedophile? 10/7/2006 4:11:24 PM Would you trust the UN with nuclear weapons as in Space Cadet? 5/27/2006 2:39:26 PM Did Rod Walker get dropped on his head from birth? 2/27/2006 9:13:32 AM How did the people in Mike's Cult avoid getting VD? 1/21/2006 10:20:38 PM Heinlein: Was Maureen Johnson a bad mother? 6/24/2005 4:03:02 PM What was Heinlein's views on military governments? 3/8/2005 9:25:58 PM Was Farmer in the Sky a Malthusian false alarm? 2/15/2005 10:34:12 PM Note: the views expressed here are only those of the posters.

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