The Son Probably Won't Come Out Tomorrow

"Wednesdays and Fridays" by Elizabeth Jolley is a familiar story that allows certain readers to find connections between parent and child relationships today. Often times, mothers can spoil their children to the extent in which their children will begin to take advantage of their non-threatening nature.

This story is written in such a manner discussed in the narration section in which there really is no narration. That is the difficulty about writing only through letters. There are no biased outside descriptions, no "peeks" into the mind of the narrator or the characters in the discourse, and there is no knowledge about these characters at all – everything I know and think is completely based off of the letters and the way they are written. My judgments of Donald are based off of the fact that he is apparently ignoring his mother's requests. While I wouldn’t want this lack of narration for just any story, it works for this one because letters are very personal, and getting to see the different emotions expressed by Mabel helps me understand their relationship.

Donald is obviously taking advantage of Mabel’s good nature by ignoring her requests, which can be seen through the continuous letters, but especially the last one. The letters are passive aggressive ways for her order to hopefully get him to do what she wants. Unfortunately, he knows that since she is too scared to ask him for any of the things she needs in person, then she will certainly never do anything about his lazy and carefree ways. He also thinks that buying her presents – “Donald, no more presents please. You know I never use lipsticks…” – will make her lay off a bit.

There is an apparent pushover attitude given off by the mother from the beginning of the story. She does not speak with conviction and does not come off as a threat. The mother-son relationship is a complicated one; mothers want their sons to succeed but they also want their sons to love them. Donald knows that no matter what, her personal relationship with him will triumph any type of financial conflict. The August 6 letter is when I really see that her friendly relationship is more important to her than her duties as a strict mother, which is apparent by this letter being the only one signed “Your loving mother.” It is shown here, and often in real life as well, that mothers think they are helping their sons by letting things slide, but this is actually counterproductive. The minute he shows any type of remorse, she holds back and acts more nurturing. She is annoyed by this relationship, but she will probably never do anything about it.  The cycle will begin again, and Mabel will continue to do more harm than good by not taking any kind of initiative.