Entry 2: Passage Analysis

On page 100 of The Liars' Club, Mary Karr writes, "I remember leaning across the front of his blue work shirt to tell Lecia that was some good crying she did, to which she lowered the paper towel so I could finally see her face. It was like a course brown curtain dropping to show a mask entirely different than the grinning one I'd expected. Her eyes and nose were red and her mouth was twisted up and slobbery. All of a sudden, I knew she wasn't faking it, the grief I mean. It cut something out of me to see her hurt. And it put some psychic yardage between us that I was so far from sad and she was so deep in it."

Lecia and Mary, two sisters, are informed that their grandmother has passed away, and are subsequently pulled out of school and driven home by an uncle. Mary, who blatantly abhorred her grandmother, assumes that Lecia's hysterical crying is a spurious act of sadness. Once the two have arrived at their home and have reached their father, Mary attempts to compliment Lecia on the emotional display. It is from this event that the aforementioned quote arises.

The previously mentioned quote contains an example of both a metaphor and a simile, in addition to illustrating Lecia and Mary as foils for one another. By stating that seeing her sister's face unencumbered by a paper towel was "like a course brown curtain dropping"(100), the author has composed a simile. Furthermore, by discussing the "psychic yardage" between them, caused by their contrasting reactions to their grandmother's death, and through stating that, though Mary is far from sadness, Lecia is "so deep in it", a metaphor has been created. Additionally, this illustrates the fundamental differences in the natures of Lecia and Mary. From this, the literary device of a foil emerges.

The death of Lecia and Mary's grandmother is a pivotal plot point of The Liars' Club, not least because it marks both the end of a tense era in the family household and a negative turning point in their mother's mental health. This passage is significant because it chronicles the reaction and mindset of Mary towards their grandmother's death. More generally speaking, it provides viewpoint into the mind of a young child's perception of the death of someone who cast a negative shadow in their life.