In contrast to the negative images which attend old women in many social and statistical reports, literary gerontology provides a framework which allows us to see old women as complex and integrated figures. Canadian literature offers numerous examples of powerful old women who defy reductive stereotypes. Literary grandmothers, particularly when they appear in pairs, force a recognition of the integrating and mediating powers of old women. This paper discusses four Canadian novels in which pairs of grandmothers can be seen to supply a structural matrix which orders and supports the growth and development of future generations. Through the old women in these novels we may recognize the tradition of the mythic Great Mother in whose image we recognize the full power of our witches, wise women and ordinary old grandmothers.
