Summary:
This was the last chapter in the book and it began with Cathy and Thomas arguing about letting Elizabeth talk to Cathy's son, Harry. Apparently they'd been sending love letters to one another and Cathy wasn't pleased about this seeing that she knew how Elizabeth was. She did not see her as the right one for her son and she wasn't going to let it happen. Thomas on the other hand insisted to let them both go forward with it and when Cathy disagreed, he'd threatened to tell everyone what she had done with him. She became hesitant when he mentioned that because she knew that it was cause a lot of tension and she would lose her best friend. She couldn't let it happen so she told him that she would risk her reputation to protect her son. With all of the drama occurring, Kate asked Elizabeth to leave her house for some time and explained to her that she needed some time to herself. Elizabeth didn't want to go because this had been the first time in her life where she had actually felt like she had a mother. Everywhere else that she went, she felt as if she was just staying with that person but Kate had been the first to accept her and treat her as a mother as a mother is expected to treat their daughter. Kate felt where she was coming from but still she insisted that go for some time. Elizabeth left but she and Kate wrote to one another and she would let her know how things were going. Kate had the baby a week earlier than everyone expected and she became really sick with a fever. While going through labor no one wasn't able to find Thomas and everyone was beginning to find out that he interested in Elizabeth. Eventually, Kate found out and she couldn't believe it because she trusted both of them. It became a very stressful for her on top of trying to deliver the child. She and Thomas talked before she died and he had apologized but Cathy never did get the chance to tell her what happened. This was her reasoning for her hatred towards Thomas at the beginning of the story because she felt as though he was the blame for what happened between them and he caused Kate's death. Kate did believe that if anything were to happen to her Thomas would be able to support the children as a father figure. Cathy ended up caring for the child along side with Thomas although she didn't want to.
Quote:
"My instinct, too, was to check back with Kate after my absence. As if to say hello. Except that her bedside was for goodbyes now, wasn't it. But even if that was what I wanted, even if there was anything to say, I was too late." (Dunn, 286)
Reflection:
I'm not sure if you could consider this story to be considered a tragedy because Kate died but it seems that it could be. I did not enjoy the ending because this all occurred while she was pregnant as I said previously. It wasn’t fair that she died. I'm glad that she was able to give birth to the child but it was unfortunate that she could not be there as a mother for it. I believe that Kate was the tragic hero because she held the tragic flaw of being naive and not analyzing what was going on around her although she shouldn't have had to do so. These were supposed to be people that she trusts. I feel bad that Cathy wasn't able to tell Kate what happened between her and Thomas but it's a lesson learned and she now has to live with it for the rest of her life. I wonder if whenever she looks at the child will she think of mistake.
No comments:
Post a Comment