L. Annette Binder discussion

From the last class, the discussion leaders posed this question:

"And finally at the end of the story when Teddy returns to bring Freda a bouquet of flowers, she does not answer the door and states, "He wouldn't have said anything about her jawbone or her bent fingers or how her back was shaped like an S.  He would have taken her hand and knelt down to greet her, but she stayed in her spot by the window.  His face was like a mirror, and it was better not to look."  Why would she refuse to open the door?  Is there a connection between this instance and Eva Luna?"

I remember some one talking about how this is like not wanting to see their grandmother at her sickest, so that he could remember her when they shared good memories. I too read it like this, as I had that same experience with my grandmother while she was battling cancer. Towards the end of her battle, I did not visit her because she looked nothing like the person I knew and I did not want to remember her like that. So, I definitely think that this is the case in the story. Freda did not want Teddy to remember her in her deteriorating state. She wanted him to be able to tell his child stories and memories of her at her better times. This same idea can be seen in Eva Luna with Riad and Eva. Eva did not want Riad to see her older because she wanted him to remember her the way that she left him years ago. There were so many memeories of that day that she didn't want to damaged the importance of that day by seeing him again.

-Jessica Mitchell