Alienation and stages of loss in hanif kureishi’s “goodbye, mother”

“Goodbye, Mother”, a short story by Hanif Kureishi, depicts the relationship of a middle-aged man, Harry, with his family, especially his mother, and shows the problems which the hegemony imposes on his life. attempts to explore the concept of alienation and the way that the hegemony leads the life of the individuals to alienation through the division of labor and mass medi. Upon Marx’s view, ruling class has power to control the process of production, the individual’s daily life, and the society’s ideology. In Marxists viewpoint, the media as a part of capitalist system supports and distributes the capitalist ideology. All hegemony’s productions, such as media, penetrate into the life of the people to the extent that they unconsciously become far from each other. People take part in producing, not based on their pleasure but based on the market need and what determines market is the dominant system. Although Harry has been harmed from this production, he himself has become the means of this production which provides him the superficial satisfaction. All of these issues that are explored in this paper lead to alienation. Also, the capitalist system makes people as individuals who lose their love, job, and relationships; makes them be situated in the stages of grief. Indeed, “Goodbye, Mother” shows how the relationships, affections, and beliefs among the family members and, in general, the individuals can be affected by what hegemony imposes on them.