The Narrator In Alice

In “Alice” the relationship between the narrator is basically they’re neighbors which you can tell as the story goes on because she’ll describe what Alice is wearing, her style of living, or what she does on a daily basis for her kids, husband, etc. Meaning that one time the narrator states “Alice of the streets. Gentle walking on long legs. Close- kneed. Careful. Stopping sometimes at our house on her way to unknown places and other people.” Then the narrator stated that she watched Alice grow tired and ill which made her think how she saw Alice’s boys eat cake and soda pop from the corner store for dinner which the narrator thought was a bad way to raise kids but she noticed they always went to bed happily. So from those two details I was

But then a few years pass and the narrator becomes a high up government worker. So one day she happens to Alice who smiles at her again like Alice always has but the narrator cut off her smile and acted like she didn’t see her most likely because she didn’t want it to ruin her reputation being seen talking to someone who was on a lower level or what she thought was lower in the narrator’s eyes. After that the narrator says how eight years have gone by and in those years she saw Alice bury her husband and her son. Also, the narrator had a family and realized she didn’t always keep her floor clean, her hair combed, or her legs oiled and she learned to like the taste of beer. Which led her to the secret of laughter and happiness. Furthermore, It leads to the time when she saw Alice again in black after a funeral alone in the upstairs bathroom and when she found Alice sitting alone in black suddenly she was afraid to smile back to Alice remembering how she had cut Alice off when she thought she had grown beyond her and was a better person. After Alice smiled though she spoke the narrator’s name the same way she did in the past and said “Come on in and sit with me” and for the first time ever the narrator did. Which proves that the respect and admiration she had for Alice came back after all of those