Character Clues
Character Analysis
Speech and Dialogue
Wow, the stuff that comes out of Granny's mouth…
Granny's lines of dialogue let us know right off the bat that we're not dealing with a sweet old lady in this story. Never one to mince words, she barks at Doctor Harry:
Get along now, take your schoolbooks and go. There's nothing wrong with me. (1)
If that weren't insulting enough, she adds:
I pay my own bills, and I don't throw my money away on nonsense! (7)
Tell us what you really think, Granny. As these lines of dialogue suggest, Granny is one tough cookie. Of course, Granny's harsh exterior could also be considered a mask for some serious vulnerability—the persona she projects to the rest of the world through her dialogue is just one facet of her character, albeit a crucial one.
Speech and dialogue are perhaps even more important tools in this story for giving us a sense of the minor characters. Want to know the thoughts of Doctor Harry or Cornelia? Forget it. Want to know what they look or sound like? Too bad. Aside from Granny's impressions of them, the words these characters speak are pretty much all we get of these folks.
Still, what the minor characters do have to say tells us a lot about them. Doctor Harry, for instance, is jovial and playful, as he instructs Granny,
Now, now, be a good girl, and we'll have you up in no time. (2)
Doc Harry loves to have fun with Granny, good-naturedly teasing the octogenarian by addressing her as a "good girl."
And what a sweetheart that Cornelia is, right? Practically every phrase she utters could be described as kind and solicitous. Here's a rundown: "I thought you might want something," "Are you cold, darling?" "Mother, don't mind, we're going to give you a little hypodermic." We don't even have to see Cornelia to know that she's someone we wouldn't mind seeing at our bedside if we were sick.
Thoughts and Opinions
Okay, so this one applies exclusively to Granny since she's the only character whose thoughts and opinions we're familiar with, but those thoughts and opinions are oh-so-important in developing our central character.
By being allowed access into Granny's mind (thanks, narrator) we can see that she's the type of person who craves order and control. For instance, she thinks to herself:
It was good to have everything clean and folded away, with the hair brushes and tonic bottles sitting straight on the white embroidered linen. . . (17)
Granny's OCD tendencies might have something to do with the fact that major life events like being jilted and losing a child have made her feel very out of control (we talk more about this in her character analysis), so she seeks order where she can find it.
Not surprisingly, Granny is chock full of opinions. Check this one out:
Cornelia was dutiful; that was the trouble with her. Dutiful and good; 'So good and dutiful,' said Granny, 'that I'd like to spank her.' She saw herself spanking Cornlia and making a fine job of it. (10)
Granny obviously doesn't find being dutiful to be a very valuable characteristic, which further emphasizes our sense that she's not the type to simply do what she's told to. What a rebel.
Occupation
Doctor Harry and Father Connolly perform the duties of doctors and priests, respectively. Big shocker. Doc Harry gives Granny a shot to help her feel better and Father reads his Latin prayers at her bedside. What makes both of these characters really intriguing, though, is how they blatantly defy the characteristics associated with their occupations.
For instance, we might expect a doctor who's treating a dying patient to be all serious and solemn, but the wisecracking Doctor Harry is more like Jim Carrey (well, a little). Don't forget about the card-playing, gossiping, cursing Father Connolley, either. This guy totally turns our expectations about priests upside down and sideways.