Humorous literature can often be difficult to discuss because, once you "get" the main joke of a humorous text, what else is there to be said? On the contrary… I think that the "point" of "Wednesdays and Fridays" is less about humor and more about the intensely limited narration. Mabel Doris Morgan definitely sees the world through colored lenses, and I think we're meant to do more than simply laugh at here.
In order to investigate her perspective more closely, return to the story and look for the kind of cryptic, intriguing, or telling details that we talked about a few weeks ago. Note the detail and speculate about what it says about MDM's character. Identify at least four details and post your responses as a comment on this post.
group 8
ReplyDelete-She is very lenient person- constantly gave her tenant multiple chances
-She is sheltering her son- not letting him grow up and make mistakes, but instead babying him.
-She is persistent- writes multiple letters, continually mentions things he needs to do
-She is very particular- has specific requests and detailed rules that her tenant needs to follow.
1. MDM addresses her son differently depending on her mood at the time of her writing. For example, when angry MDM is blunt, voiding formality. She addresses her son as "Mr Morgan" (no dear) or simply "Donald".
ReplyDelete2. MDM signs each letter in a very distant and disconnected way for most of the letters except for the final one in which she signs off as "your loving mother".
3. With the way that MDM addresses her son, the reader can see that there is definitely a very strange mother son relationship being depicted. It is strange enough that a mother is writing letters to her child who remains living with her in the same house. There are also a lot of strange house rules that make MDM seem very strict and businesslike. As the letters progress MDM begins to address her son as more of a family member. Her formality begins to fall and we see her motherly instincts being to come out.
4. MDM clearly cares about her sons health which is very interesting to include in her letters. Most of the letters consist of simple nagging over things such as a messy room and uninvited guests, but caring about someones dietary habits and smoking addiction are very motherly things to mention and try to prevent.
Group 1
Delete1. She doesn't threaten anything when she tells her son to pay her/get a job. Not assertive. - "I'd Like to suggest you try to get a job." (Wednesday 2 July)
ReplyDelete2. Passive aggressive - She is afraid to assert her authority so you see a little bit of authority when she puts "(landlady)" at the end, but that's about the only type of assertive nature in her letter. She says "I wish" and "I think" a lot, but never uses assertive words to tell him what to do.
3. She breaks down and nurtures him as soon as he seems to express any type of remorse for what he is doing. Pushover nature. (The way the tone changes between the July 11 and July 16 letter)
4. Stringent with details and says she can't afford vases/it seems like she can't afford to take care of her son, but she is nice and puts others before herself. Even though she is poor and requests Donald to pay her back, she continuously pays for his things and doesn't punish him when he buys things with her money.
1. The address of the letters change significantly as the story proceeds
ReplyDelete2. The endings of the letters have also changed significantly
3. MDM goes from being a formal/strict landlady in her letters to a pushover of a mother who is letting her son off the hook
4. Her methods of confrontation is very passive, shows that she is very cowardly in trying to enforce her rules
Group 3
ReplyDelete1.) She changes from Mr. Morgan to Donald whenever she becomes more affectionate, and Donald to Mr. Morgan whenever she reminds him of the duties, rules, and expectations. This says that even though she is strict, she can still find a way to be a loving mother who cares about her son deeply.
2.) Whenever Donald buys Mabel things and uses her account, she only tells him about the gesture, than working on a way to finally stop it. This shows that she's basically considered a pushover.
3.) Mabel changes her signature towards the end. This shows that she does care about her son.
4.) "An Mr. Morgan, Bathroom? Explanation? And Mr. Morgan. Smoking!" Mabel struggles on the line between landlady and mother.
Group 7
ReplyDelete1. Her signatures change from "landlady" to "loving landlady" to "loving mother" - MDM cannot decide how to parent her child; she tries to approach him from multiple perspectives (professional, friendly and cordial, and finally loving and motherly); this shows her indecisiveness and overall failure of attempting to guide/teach her son
2. Her gratitude for the "thoughtful gifts" - This shows MDM's delusion and how naïve she is towards her son; clearly these gifts are not thoughtful (as he buys things that she doesn't even like and keeps some of the gifts for himself), he makes her pay for the gifts, and possibly even regifts these to her (lipstick may have been for Pearl)
3. Her opinion about the motor - MDM clearly did not like the motor and tried to encourage her son to get rid of it, but immediately offers to help him find or replace it when he loses it in the river. This shows her inability to act as an authoritative parent and her desperate desire to ultimately earn her son's affection instead of help him grow
4. The fact that MDM communicates to her son through letters - Although they live in the same house, MDM communicates with her son through these letters. The fact that they lack effective communication in person and the fact that the author chooses to only show us the letters that MDM writes (the son may not even reply in letters) shows how one-sided their relationship is.
-salutations: MDM addresses her son as Mr. Morgan and Donald, and signs her letters just landlady, your loving landlady, your loving mother, and sincerely yours.
ReplyDelete-asking rather than demanding in her letters ("May you...Can you...I'd like to suggest")
-colors: Donald dyes the sheets purple and the curtains electric green, and buys phosphorecent lipstick for his mother (we thought this was a random/intriguing detail)
-in her last letter, she apologizes to Donald and signs her letter "your loving mother" which is the first time we see this
1. Mabel’s character may seem stern at first, but in the later letters she begins to sign off with more affection, such as “your loving mother.” She does not lessen her strict attitude until after Donald has begun to break down and is ready to comply with her requests.
ReplyDelete2. Another detail revealing Mabel’s character is her acceptance of Pearl in the last letter. She even goes so far as to imply that Pearl would be welcome on a family trip on the boat, after Donald retrieves his motor.
3. Mabel also has an account at the highway general store, which she allows her son to use. Rather than cutting off his access to the account after he begins to charge frivolous things to it, she allows him to continue buying things at the store on credit. She allowed him to remain on the account so as to not alienate him further.
4. Mabel chooses to bill her son for board through letters rather than in person. This implies that she does not like to engage in direct conflict with anybody, but would rather work things out from a distance.