How could the doctors wife be considered a mother throughout the book?

She takes it upon herself during the book to take care of the blind, as she believes that it is her duty since she can still see. It began with her husband, she is shown to have motherly instincts and courage when she sacrifices herself to go to the mental hospital with her husband so she can help him when he cannot help himself. She put her needs before his and risked her sight and possibly much worse for him without a second thought. When she sees the state that the other blind people are living in, the guilt begins to weigh in on her and she begins to indirectly or subtly take care of the rest of the ward members without letting them know that she can see. This relates to how mothers help massively in the housework and raising the children but in the background without it being a main focus so as to not take too much credit as one of the main characteristics of motherhood is humility. Once she reveals to the group that she in fact can see, she fully embodies this role of leader or mother. She takes it upon herself to feed them, shelter them in her own apartment, read to them before bed and look after their safety. We see this when she goes out looking for food in the grocery store. She also escorts them whenever they leave the apartment for whatever reason as would a mother escort her child who is unable to look after himself. This is seen when she escorts the first blind man and his wife to their old apartment to see if it is occupied or not.

To conclude, the doctor's wife showed some motherly qualities in her character early on in the book that were only intensified with the progression of the plot as her guilt and pity for the blind takes a hold of her.