The rest of the family also displays characteristics that contribute to their disfunctional group. Papa-Daddy would rather rest in his hammock, and Uncle Rondo would rather be doped up all day on medication than deal with family bickering. Mama is caught up in past issues such as Cousin Annie Flo and too busy trying to convince herself Shirley-T is actually adopted. Stella-Rondo even prefers her 'windows shut and locked' - an underlining comparison done by the author to show that Stella chooses to shut out the world. All but Sister fall casualty to Stella-Rondo's alienating lies and make hasty assumptions instead of clearheaded conclusions. All show retaliation to any form of communication to solve their family feuds.
The theme emerged as the family fell apart from within. The author pulled together her point quickly when Sister decided to move to the Post Office. She took many of her possessions with her, one of most importance being the radio, the family's window to the world. As a child rebelling against her family's habits, she tries to break away from their faults. She still falls into the default mode without realizing her subconscious ways. By moving to the post office, she is choosing to get away from her family's habit. Ironically, Sister finds her solitude in such a highly communicative place. Little does she realize that she mimics their customs by separating herself and leaving the situation behind unresolved. In the end, Sister chooses the only answer she has been subject to all her life.
John-Cody Canal
I agree with what you are saying about the story.
ReplyDeleteThe whole family seems to have some partiality to Stella-Rondo. Since she is considered their perfect child, they refuse to accept her conniving ways. Also, I believe she only married Mr. Whitaker because of the child. Not only did her family not know about Shirley-T, but the mother even makes a comment that the child is " far too big to be hers" on page 827.
Another addition to the family dysfunction is how skewed their priorities are. Papa-Daddy only seems to care about his beard and Uncle Rondo drinks the expensive prescription every July fourth. Stella-Rondo is wrapped up in herself, along with Mama. Sister sees all of this and simply moves on. I think that she left them behind because there was no way she could live with her sister turning her family against her.
I agree with your analysis of the story. Like you pointed out, their disfunction is cause by Stella-Rondos attempts to shut out the world and ignore reality. One of the main reasons this family is so dysfunctional is the communication between one another, especially on Stella-Rondo's part.
ReplyDeleteShe frequently twists Sisters words to suit her own reality. on page 820 Sister says "Shirley T was the spit-image of Papa-Daddy if he'd cut off his beard." Stella-Rondo turns this around and tells Papa-Daddy that Sister doesn't understand why he doesn't cut off his beard to turn him against her. A similar situation occurs with Uncle Rondo as well where Stella-Rondo turns him against Sister. I think Sister deals with this by moving to a place where she could get away from her sister and communication made sense, the post office.
Your analysis of the story is very accurate. But another observation which I made was people's feelings and biased opinions can ultimately determine who and what they choose to like, or side with. For instance, on page 824, Mama says, "I (with emphasis on the word) prefer to take my children's word for anything when it's humanly possible." She is only upset because Sister mentioned Annie Flo's name; she has no reasonable basis for so thoroughly disliking her only daughter, she is simply more pleased with Stella-Rondo.
ReplyDeleteI think what is most underlining to this story is how lying and deceit and just plain misunderstanding can destroy a family; the lack of true, genuine communication and true, genuine feelings causes such chaos that everyone is left believing the wrong things about everybody else. Sister is apparently the only one who sees things exactly as they really are, and because this is her position, she cannot tolerate living in such a situation full of lies. The reader is left to pity her I think, and indeed it is a bit ironic that she finds her place in what is usually such a communicative place.
I very much agree with your analysis of the story. I find it ironic that Stella-Rondo is the favorite child in the family over Sister. Stella's deceitfulness is something that appears to be blind to everyone in the family except for Sister. Sister seems to have her life together, having gone to the Normal and payed for many things in the family's home. But, everyone looks past all the good Sister does and spoils Stella-Rondo. I also think the conflict within the family is partially due to where they live. They live in such a small town where everybody seems to know everbody. At the bottom of page 828, Sister says that her family makes up most of the population in China Grove. This contributes to a lot of the she-said, she-said that ultimately drives Sister to live at the P.O.
ReplyDeleteI think your post did a good job discussing the story. Reading the comments, I find most of what I would have written is already said. Its clear Stella-Rondo is the favorite through the comments Sister makes and Stella's dialogue with the other people. To me, Sister seems to have a slightly sarcastic maybe even humorous attitude which translates to the overall mood of the story even with all the family's problems.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your analysis. The points you make about how dysfunction and conflict affect the family and the individual are well thought out. However I wonder about what you said about it seeming that Sister was the only clear minded person in the family. After reading the story I wonder whether Sister is actual clearminded or not. Because the story is told from her point of view it is not entirely trustworthy.
ReplyDeleteSister is obviously jealous of Stella-Rondo. She says in the second paragraph of page 820, "she's always had anything in the world she wanted" and on the same page she says, "Stella-Rondo is exactly twelve months to the day younger than I am and for that reason she is spoiled". Sister also shows resentment towards Stella-Rondo. She says in the first paragraph of 820, "Stella-Rondo broke us up." When she talks about her and Mr. Whitaker. Maybe Mr. Whitaker prefered Stella-Rondo to Sister and Sister convinced herself that it was Stella-Rondo's fault. Because Sister's perspective is so biased we cannot take for granted that what she says is true.
Because there is evidence to support the possibility that Sister's perspective is skewed by jealousy, and perhaps bitterness too, it may not be safe for us to assume that everything she says in the story is entirely true. We should take that into account when analyzing the rest of the story.