Mrs. Slatter is Charlie’s wife (we never learn her first name). At first she appears to be a kind and compassionate person, inviting Mary to social gatherings and commiserating with her over her experience of financial hardship. However, when Mary snubs her, Mrs. Slatter grows spiteful and accuses the Turners of living “like pigs.”
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Mrs. Slatter Character Timeline in The Grass is Singing
The timeline below shows where the character Mrs. Slatter appears in The Grass is Singing. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3
...There is no door between the rooms, only a curtain that had been embroidered by Mrs. Slatter . As Dick is talking, Mary suddenly feels that she has been transported back to...
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Chapter 5
...it is too late to do anything about this. The car stops and Charlie and Mrs. Slatter get out. Mary is relieved to see Dick’s car following closely behind. The four of...
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...midst of an intense discussion about farming and the burden of dealing with native people. Mrs. Slatter is hurt by Mary’s lack of engagement, and when the Slatters leave, Dick is sad...
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A few days later, Mrs. Slatter invites them to an evening party, which Dick reluctantly agrees to attend for Mary’s sake;...
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Chapter 7
...hours he develops a burning fever and rushes home to bed. Mary reluctantly writes to Mrs. Slatter and later that day Charlie brings a doctor to the Turners’ farm. After examining Dick,...
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Mary stands on the veranda watching the doctor leave, her mind filled with enraged resentment. Mrs. Slatter drops off a bag of citrus, for which Mary writes a “dry little note” of...
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Chapter 10
...“district” for many years. This is all the fault of the Slatters, the narrator says. Mrs. Slatter was stung by having been snubbed by Mary so many times and the strangely formal...
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...go bankrupt, and one day he asks aloud how the Turners manage to stay afloat. Mrs. Slatter replies: “Because they live like pigs and never buy anything.”
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