Nine Days

While Connie is having a dangerous, amateur abortion performed behind a dress shop, Jean returns home to do some chores and reflect, thinking back to the first time she was pregnant and felt another life moving around inside her. In spite of Jean’s anger and seeming disdain for her own children, her narrative once again demonstrates that she does value motherhood, despite the burden it places on her shoulders. Jean’s reflection that children and family keep you from ever passing out of the world closely parallels Alec’s later reflection that as long as he has his family, he will never truly be alone. Both  of these realizations suggest that family, regardless of what structure or shape it may take, is the most important thing a person can have, the greatest gift and most valuable asset. For both characters, who each tend to be self-centered and disregard others, this is an important observation to make, as it helps them both to de-center themselves and consider the full value of their family members, even when they anger them or don’t meet their expectations.

After Alec finds a photo of Connie kissing Jack and shows it to his grandfather, Kip, Kip explains to the family that Connie did not die from the flu like he’d told them, but from an abortion. Alec and Charlotte’s reaction to this news provides the most overt critique in the story against old notions of abortion, and gendered stigmas, clearly arguing that the “ridiculous sexist taboos” of those days were absurd, and that society has a much less regressive attitude toward women in the modern age. Annabel’s response provides the appropriate counter to such anger: the world was simply different then, and much pain and injustice were swept under the rug. Annabel’s response is particularly poignant in that she makes no effort to rationalize or justify the sexist and regressive viewpoints of the past, but she does recognize that it was a different world then, with different cultural forces, expectations, and social mores. Annabel’s measured response thus seems to represent the position of the author herself.

As Alec’s grandparents are getting ready to leave, Alec finds Kip standing next to the tree in the yard, the last place he ever saw Connie alive. Kip takes Alec’s face in his hands and implores him to love the people around him, since they could be gone at any moment. Kip’s life has been defined by loss, as he watched his father, sister, and mother die in succession, suggesting through the process that the people one loves can be taken from them at any moment. This has made Kip grateful for each day, especially each day that he is able to spend with a loved one. This message of gratitude is particularly important for Alec to hear, since Alec tends to disregard his family and be preoccupied with his own feelings and frustrations. Kip’s encouragement to love and value the people around him in each moment that he has with them is thus an important step in Alec coming to understand how much his family truly means, and that he should love them regardless of faults or frustrations.

Alec recalls how, in lieu of a conventional father figure, Kip stepped up to fulfill the fatherly duties, even when it required him to take time away from his own work. Although Alec previously lamented the fact that neither he nor Libby truly knows their fathers, his remembrance of Kip operating as their effective father figure suggests that he now appreciates his grandfather’s love just as well. Although unconventional, and in Alec’s eyes perhaps not ideal, Kip’s role as Alec and Libby’s father figure demonstrates that in an unconventional family structure, individuals can adapt and take on new roles and responsibilities to fulfill other family members physical or emotional needs. Although Kip is their grandfather and not their father, Alec and Libby still are able to have a fatherly figure in their lives to provide the sort of paternal guidance and affirmation that their mother may not know how to give. Furthermore, the love that Kip obviously has for his family, and Alec’s stated love for Kip, suggest that although unconventional, their family is no less loving or valuable.

While Connie is having a dangerous, amateur abortion performed behind a dress shop, Jean returns home to do some chores and reflect, thinking back to the first time she was pregnant and felt another life moving around inside her. In spite of Jean’s anger and seeming disdain for her own children, her narrative once again demonstrates that she does value motherhood, despite the burden it places on her shoulders. Jean’s reflection that children and family keep you from ever passing out of the world closely parallels Alec’s later reflection that as long as he has his family, he will never truly be alone. Both  of these realizations suggest that family, regardless of what structure or shape it may take, is the most important thing a person can have, the greatest gift and most valuable asset. For both characters, who each tend to be self-centered and disregard others, this is an important observation to make, as it helps them both to de-center themselves and consider the full value of their family members, even when they anger them or don’t meet their expectations.

After Alec finds a photo of Connie kissing Jack and shows it to his grandfather, Kip, Kip explains to the family that Connie did not die from the flu like he’d told them, but from an abortion. Alec and Charlotte’s reaction to this news provides the most overt critique in the story against old notions of abortion, and gendered stigmas, clearly arguing that the “ridiculous sexist taboos” of those days were absurd, and that society has a much less regressive attitude toward women in the modern age. Annabel’s response provides the appropriate counter to such anger: the world was simply different then, and much pain and injustice were swept under the rug. Annabel’s response is particularly poignant in that she makes no effort to rationalize or justify the sexist and regressive viewpoints of the past, but she does recognize that it was a different world then, with different cultural forces, expectations, and social mores. Annabel’s measured response thus seems to represent the position of the author herself.

As Alec’s grandparents are getting ready to leave, Alec finds Kip standing next to the tree in the yard, the last place he ever saw Connie alive. Kip takes Alec’s face in his hands and implores him to love the people around him, since they could be gone at any moment. Kip’s life has been defined by loss, as he watched his father, sister, and mother die in succession, suggesting through the process that the people one loves can be taken from them at any moment. This has made Kip grateful for each day, especially each day that he is able to spend with a loved one. This message of gratitude is particularly important for Alec to hear, since Alec tends to disregard his family and be preoccupied with his own feelings and frustrations. Kip’s encouragement to love and value the people around him in each moment that he has with them is thus an important step in Alec coming to understand how much his family truly means, and that he should love them regardless of faults or frustrations.

Alec recalls how, in lieu of a conventional father figure, Kip stepped up to fulfill the fatherly duties, even when it required him to take time away from his own work. Although Alec previously lamented the fact that neither he nor Libby truly knows their fathers, his remembrance of Kip operating as their effective father figure suggests that he now appreciates his grandfather’s love just as well. Although unconventional, and in Alec’s eyes perhaps not ideal, Kip’s role as Alec and Libby’s father figure demonstrates that in an unconventional family structure, individuals can adapt and take on new roles and responsibilities to fulfill other family members physical or emotional needs. Although Kip is their grandfather and not their father, Alec and Libby still are able to have a fatherly figure in their lives to provide the sort of paternal guidance and affirmation that their mother may not know how to give. Furthermore, the love that Kip obviously has for his family, and Alec’s stated love for Kip, suggest that although unconventional, their family is no less loving or valuable.