I completely understand the reference that's been made to Alice Through the Looking Glass, but given that it talks about an unborn child, I always thought of the shape of a woman's body as the looking glass - the womb would be a bit like the large circular lens and the birth canal underneath would look like a stick holding up the lens. And little Ruby is inside, literally hearing all that's going on 'through the looking glass', ie her mother's skin.
I also think it's partly to do with the way certain religious views can affect women. Tori has spoken a lot in interviews about how she feels Christian women have to 'pick their Mary' - have the spirituality of the Virgin Mary or the sexuality of the Magdalene. I think 'won't put her through what you put me through' relates to this, she is saying that her daughter won't be bound by the same conventions. 'Strike me at the root' also makes me think of the image from old pictures of God striking people down.
The part about drowning in the waterfall - it made me think of the quote from Tori about baptism, that the water wasn't splashed on her head, but her head was held under for 13 years. Maybe this is a reference to that.
The last bit about 'doesn't every woman want it all?' I think relates to her previous miscarriages - she wanted her sonic children (she talks about this in her book) as well as a real-life child, and now she is hoping that this child will be born. The 'boy smoke to cry' bit is where the male character can't deal with the grief by crying, so he smokes to cope with the loss because it's hard for him to let it out.
I completely understand the reference that's been made to Alice Through the Looking Glass, but given that it talks about an unborn child, I always thought of the shape of a woman's body as the looking glass - the womb would be a bit like the large circular lens and the birth canal underneath would look like a stick holding up the lens. And little Ruby is inside, literally hearing all that's going on 'through the looking glass', ie her mother's skin.
I also think it's partly to do with the way certain religious views can affect women. Tori has spoken a lot in interviews about how she feels Christian women have to 'pick their Mary' - have the spirituality of the Virgin Mary or the sexuality of the Magdalene. I think 'won't put her through what you put me through' relates to this, she is saying that her daughter won't be bound by the same conventions. 'Strike me at the root' also makes me think of the image from old pictures of God striking people down.
The part about drowning in the waterfall - it made me think of the quote from Tori about baptism, that the water wasn't splashed on her head, but her head was held under for 13 years. Maybe this is a reference to that. The last bit about 'doesn't every woman want it all?' I think relates to her previous miscarriages - she wanted her sonic children (she talks about this in her book) as well as a real-life child, and now she is hoping that this child will be born. The 'boy smoke to cry' bit is where the male character can't deal with the grief by crying, so he smokes to cope with the loss because it's hard for him to let it out.