My Mother's Sadness

The first thing that strikes me about this chapter is the voice.  Mature, and naïve are both words I would use to describe Alma Singer.

And if she is so intent on making her mother fall in love again why does she never want to herself; "not in a million years."(Krauss 54) she says.  What's different? Does she consider her mother dependent and her not? Because she would actually have a leg to stand on in that argument, at least for herself.  But I'm not sure she gives her mom enough credit.  Typical teenage girl I guess... 

"8.   My Mother is the Most Stubborn Person I Know" (Krauss 39)

"15. Whenever I Went Out to Play My Mother Wanted to Know Exactly Where I Was Going to Be"  (Krauss 43)

So, to back up my previous accusations, these two facts she knows about her mom seem super ordinary.  Far be it from me to question the existence of a mother who frequently stuck to her guns in the face of her teenage daughter.  And maybe this was a different time where moms always let their children run wild in the streets until supper if only to get a day of peace (much like my paternal grandmother), and they could feel safe about that because of the neighborhood they lived in or because they felt their children responsible enough to do that.  But I still don't find it shocking that Alma's mom is protective of her.  Especially after losing such a close member of their family, I can understand how she would be extra careful.  

But then there is another side to the story that we see.  Maybe her mom worries, but she doesn't seem actively protective of her children.  If anything she is frequently described as distant and occasionally completely out of the picture:

"19. The Wall of Dictionaries Between My Mother and the World Gets Taller Every Year" (Krauss 46)

"32. For Two Months My Mother Hardly Left the House" (Krauss 60)

And in her mother's mental absence, Alma really becomes the head of the house, and she raises her younger brother Bird about as much or more as we see her mother do.  So we do see Alma as a far more independent 14 year-old than most.  But I still struggle with calling her mother completely dependent.  I mean she depends on Bird and Alma to raise themselves, but not to help her take care of herself.  And it's not like she asks for all of her children's "help" falling in love again. 

I just don't get it.  I can see Alma wanting to help her mother fall in love if that was how she thought everyone's life was supposed to be; Happily ever after, and all the story book cliché you can cram into a young girl's head.  But she doesn't even want that for herself.  She should innately understand that that dream is not for everyone because it's not for her.  Maybe she thinks that her mom needs love, even if she doesn't want it.  And wouldn't that be just a too-good-to-be-true reflection of her own situation.  I mean don't tell me that a fourteen-year-old girl with an absent mother, a bizarre little brother, and no friends to speak of isn't in need of some love, no matter how much she doesn't want it.  

So take it back to the top.  And in case that tangent was getting a bit long for you here it is again:

The first thing that strikes me about this chapter is the voice.  Mature and naïve are both words I would use to describe Alma Singer.

Mature enough to raise her brother, worry about her mother, and not worry about breaking social norms to be who she wants, yet she is still naïve.  Her constant attempts to set up her mom and her general air of a lack of experience give the reader the impression of a much older mind inside the body of a young girl who simply cannot know more than she has been taught, or has experienced.