4.1.3 Proud
Polly does not have a good relationship with her parents, Claire and Al. It was because something happened in the past. When Polly was a child, Al left the family for
nine days. Al did not give any news or leave any messages for Claire and Polly. Soon Polly realized that her father left to meet his lady friend. Al has an affair. However, the
problem which made Polly felt upset was not because the affair but because Claire forgave Al’s mistake. This can be seen from the conversation between Polly and Claire,
her mother, when Al went back to the house :Murphy, 1972:162. By the time Al came back, nine days later, Polly hated him. He was
visiting a friend, he said, but Polly knew it was a lady friend. […] “That’s it?” Polly had said to her mother. “You’re taking him back?”
“Don’t think you understand everything about grownups, because you don’t,” Al told Polly :p.75.
Polly ignored her father. She watched as her mother searched through a drawer for her vegetable. She hated her father, but what she felt for Claire was worse.
She didn’t know what it was called, but it was pity, and it changed something between them forever :p.76.
The relationship between them started to change. That problem makes Polly keep a distance with her parents. Polly feels when she sees her mother Polly willl
remember about the past :p.76. After Polly married with Ivan, Polly lives separately. Polly lives in Massachusetts and her parents live in New York. She meets her parents
rarely. Polly prefers to visit them rather than her parents come to visit Polly. Even now, Polly cannot look at her mother without thinking of the night
her father came home, and so she stays away. She sees her parents as little as possible, and she prefers to visit them instead of having them come up :p.76.
Polly never tells her disappointment with her parents, but Claire and Al realize that there was a problem happened in the past which makes Polly disappointed but they
do not know what the problem was. When knowing the parents are going to visit
Amanda, Polly gets angry because she does not feel comfortable when her parents visit them.
“Next weekend, “Al says. “We’ll drive up Friday night.” “I’m going to hang up on you,” Polly tells him.
“What have you got against us?” Al says. “What we did we do to you that was so terrible?”
“Nothing,” Polly says :p.115. Polly also does the same thing to Claire. Polly gives unpleasant respond if she
comes. Claire realizes that Polly hates her but she does not know the reason because Polly does not want to tell the reason.
Late in the afternoon, Charlie’s grandmother sews one of the tyrannosaurus patches on his denim jacket, while his grandfather gets the cooler and packs
apples and cheese and beer for the ride. […] Charlie’s grandmother will not be driving up with them. She has pointedly
not been invited. Claire knows Polly is afraid she’ll will break down; Polly has never forgiven her disappointments that happened so long ago Claire doesn’t
even remember what they were :pp.81-82.
After what was happened in the past, Polly considers that her mother is a weak woman because she forgave Al. Al knows about it but there is nothing he can do.
It’s nowhere near the truth and Al knows it, he laughs in a peculiar, dark way. Ever since her mother took him back, Polly has not trusted Claire to be anything
but weak :p.115.
4.1.4 Positige Thinking
As a photographer, Polly has to meet various clients and it can be anyone. Polly’s client now is Laurel Smith, the occult. The presence an occult is unusual in the
society Polly lives in. Knowing that Polly works with an occult, some people give comment on it. Hearing some comments on Laurel Smith does not make Polly has
negative thinking on her, on the contrary she always has positive thinking on Laurel Smith. When Ivan, her husband tries to make a joke about Laurel Smith Polly does not
feel comfortable about it :Murphy, 1972:162.
“No Laurel Smith today?” Ivan teases Polly as she gets the kids into the Blazer. “Don’t make fun of Laurel,” Polly tells Ivan. She leans on the open door of the
Blazer, only now remembering she has appointment to take it in for new shocks this afternoon.
“I knew it” Ivan says. “You’re falling for her garbage. You’re so suggestible.”
“I am not,” Polly says :p.12. From conversation above, it is shown that Polly does not want Ivan to tease and make
fun of Laurel Smith. Betsy Stafford, Polly’s partner, does not believe Laurel’s talent. Betsy thinks
that Laurel is a crazy person. When they have a conversation, Polly is not sure that Laurel Smith has an ability to read people but she does not give any bad comment
although Betsy says bad thing to Laurel. “Either she’s a great actress,” Polly once told Betsy Stafford, “or
something real is going on here.” Betsy, who is much more of cynic than Polly, had smiled and said,
“You’ll have to wait and read the book to find out the answer.” Even after she’d seen some of the photographs, Betsy had refused to admit that Laurel might be
anything but a charlatan. “Let’s just accept Laurel for what she is,” Betsy insisted. “A nut” :p.14.
Betsy also finds out Laurel’s background and she makes her own conclusion. Hearing what Betsy has said, Polly still thinks positively. She does not want other
people to influence her in giving opinion on Laurel Smith. Betsy, who unbeknownst to Laurel has been researching her background
and discovered a small trust fund left to Laurel by her parents, doesn’t give Laurel any credit for generosity. But Polly is not so quick to judge her :p.16.
When Polly comes to the school to watch the gymnast competition she meets with another parents. Polly meets Fran, Evelyn Crowley’s mother. Fran is asking about
the occult. Fran considers that it is a strange thing for Polly. “Polly, I’m hearing strange things about you.”
It is Evelyn Crowley’s mother, Fran. […] Fran sits down next to Polly. “The occult?” Fran says :p.18.
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