Comparison of "Rhoses, Rhododendron" and "Four Summers".
...ill be: “When I was a girl, I imagined that I would grow up to be a writer, a novelist, and that I would have at least four children. Instead, I grow flowers and write book reviews” (8). At the end of the story, when Jane is already married and have four children, the reader has the impression that even though the Farrs separated, she considers them as her family. In the story “Four Summers:, Sissie, goes through a process of maturation from childhood to adulthood introduced by four different sections. Each section tell the story of a different summer. In the first section the protagonist’s age isn’t mentioned although it’s clear she is a small girl: “I wish I had a nice little girl like that” (1029). This story is also told with a first person point of view. She is very attached with her mother. She gives simple descriptions of the people around her and the place where the events take place, a tavern. In the second section the reader notices that Sissie is a little older. She gives more descriptions about the tavern and more psychological thought when she describes the ride on the boat. The third section begins when she is 14 years old. The relationship with her parents deteriorates. She describes herself as : “My hair lost its curl because it was so humid today, my legs are too thin, my figure is flat and not nice like Marian’s” (1035). Sissie has become self-conscious, hateful to almost everyone, and she gets angry often. In the last section of the story she is married and she is pregnant. For the first time in the story she calls the tavern from its real name, “It’s the Lakeside Bar” (1037), which shows maturation. She also describes it as: “Yes, everything is the same. But different too, Olmos 3 smaller, dirtier” (1037). The perception she had of herself also changes: I catch sight of myself in a dusty window as we pass. My hair is long, down to my shoulders. I am pretty, but my secret is that I am pretty like everyone is. My husband loves me for this but doesn’t know it. I have a pink mouth and plucked darkened eyebrows and soft bangs over my forehead; I know everything, I have no need to learn from anyone else now. I am one of those girls younger girls study closely, to learn from. On buses, in five-and-tens, thirteen-year-old girls must look at me solemnly, learning, memorizing. (1037) Setting is a major element in both stories because it contributes to the protagonists process of maturation. “Roses, Rhododendron” presents a setting where the protagonist narrates her childhood and adolescence in North Carolina with the Farrs family. Jane doesn’t say much bout her mother. She even calls her Margot instead of calling her mom. This is due because Margot seems to don’t care about Jane, “Why don’t you go for a walk or something Jane?”(2), because she is busy asking the ouija if she will see her husband again. Jane spend a lot of time with Harriet and her family. Jane loves them because she finds in them what she doesn’t have in her house, a united family. At the end of the story, Jane’s husband says, “How odd. She sounds so much like you” (10), which is due because they were very close friends. They make competitions to know who was more popular in school. Because Jane had no a real concept of a family, she became part of the F...