Eulogy For Emily

The story takes place in the narrator’s home. She stands in her room ironing and she talks about her daughter. It is during the depression time. The narrator has to put her kid in a nursery school all the time when her child is around two years old, and her child’s name is Emily. She has to leave Emily in the daytime with a woman who does not have any idea how to take care of a child. She puts Emily into the convalescent home after the nursery school. The school is like a prison to her and Emily. They could not hug each other when she comes to visit her daughter. She has to work, and she looks for work to take care of Emily. They have to move around a lot. The story setting is about a mother who is standing in her room ironing her clothes,

“She would start running as soon as she got off the street car, running up the stairs, the place smelling sour” (page 293); which usually we have to stand around the trash can or a garbage truck to smell that. Emily says the clock talked loud again when her mom goes to the hospital to have Susan. They have runny eggs for breakfast for Emily in the convalescent home. She never swallows the eggs as if she has a worst breakfast ever. The eggs look yummy, but it tastes sour and rancid which make Emily wants to vomit when she puts it in her mouth. The narrator sees pictures on the society page of sleek young woman planning affairs how to get money, and decorating Easter eggs at the convalescent. It is a handsome place, green lawns and tall trees, and flower bed on the yard at the convalescent home. The children can see all that beautiful view when they stand on the balcony. Emily asthma makes her breathing harsh and labored, and it would fill the house with a curiously tranquil sound. The narrator holds Ronnie on her arm, and she is looking out over the city spread in charcoal with its soft aisles of light. She has to carry Ronnie back to bed when he falls asleep on her arm. When the narrator is at work, she gets a phone called from Emily. Emily tells the narrator that she has won first place for her comedy talent show at