In the novel "The Mother," Maxim Gorky depicts for the first time in literature the struggle of the revolutionary proletariat for socialism, under the guidance of the party of the working class, and the birth of the new man within this struggle. Trapped in a martyrdom family life, a hostage to systematic physical and mental abuse, Pelagia Nilovna lives detached from society. The death of her husband and the maturation of her beloved son, Pavel, constitute the necessary conditions for her socialization. The political action of Pavel and his comrades against the authoritarian state power moves her. Their struggle becomes hers: she seeks the truth, questions the ruling class, and joins the fight for the great revolution. In the eyes of her fellow fighters, she is their mother, ready to sacrifice herself for the common purpose.