Intro to Lit Blog

The Old Maid, Part Two

Part One of this story was a little slow for my taste, especially the beginning where there was a lot of description of New York society. A lot of important plot points happened, but not much in the way of story progressed. In contrast to this, Part Two had a lot of plot developments including the death of Jim Ralston at the beginning of chapter six. This changed the story from one where Charlotte tries to raise her child in secret to one where there is a conflict over who is Tina's mother. The characters of Delia and Charlotte are developed quite nicely and I found myself struggling over who I thought Tina should look at as her mother. On one hand, Charlotte is her birth mother and has a right to be called mother, but on the other hand, Delia has provided a lot for Tina and by the end of the story, has “saved” her twice. I find Delia to be a much more likable character because Charlotte is rather boring and strict with her daughter, but I used quotes around the word “saved” because Delia's actions are really quite selfish.

In Part One she rescues Tina by taking her into her house and preventing the marriage of Charlotte and Joe Ralston so Charlotte could raise her child in secret. Delia has an ulterior motive though. Joe admits that Charlotte only had to ask and he would allow her to continue looking after the orphans, but Delia decides that this would bring shame to the Ralston name and never tells this to Charlotte. In Part Two, Charlotte decides she wants to leave with Tina, but Delia adopts her so she can get some inheritance in order to marry Lanning Halsey. She does this only to keep Tina at her house though. She does it so Tina can still be hers, as if Delia was actually her real mother.

Charlotte, while hard to like, gets some sympathy for her situation. Tina loves Delia's conversations and material gifts and sees Charlotte as a strict, grumpy, old maid. Yet Charlotte does nothing to change this. Only on a few occasions does she mention to Delia that she hates it when Delia is called “mother” and she resents Delia for speaking to Tina about her as an old maid. You almost want Charlotte to go away with Tina and I was mad for a moment when Delia adopted Tina without telling Charlotte. Throughout the story you could feel the tension building between Charlotte and Delia, and I found it difficult to decide who I wanted to win.

The ending, I thought, was perfect for this story because Delia finally realizes Charlotte's situation. I didn't want Charlotte to tell Tina the truth on her wedding night, but at the same time, I was glad Charlotte was finally doing something that she wanted. I was relieved and disappointed when Charlotte didn't go through with it. Disappointed that Tina wouldn't know the truth, but relieved that Tina's wedding wouldn't be crushed. In the last line, Delia asks Tina to promise to, “give your last kiss to Aunt Charlotte. Don't forget – the very last.” I thought this was an excellent ending because it showed Delia's effort to bridge the gap between Tina and Charlotte so that one day Tina may finally know the truth.

posted by rcunning @ 3:28 PM