When Rachel finds out that her dress is gone, she freaks out and immediately blames Flora, and by that, you know that it is something she would expect from Flora. Flora and Rachel does not seem to have an unusual relationship by how they speak and act, because they act like any sisters would, but the thing that Flora buries her sister’s dress in the backyard is very unusual to do as a sister, if she cares about Rachel. Another thing that could mean that Flora must have been irritating Rachel for a while and stolen more of her stuff earlier on is the fact that Rachel actually leaves on her mother’s birthday and when she says: “Nothing is safe. That’s why I’m leaving”, because it takes more than one issue to leave her mother on her birthday, we get to believe that earlier in the story when she is determined not to let it affect or ruin her mother’s birthday.
Their mother seems very depressed, sad and tired of her life. It is very clear when she says: “I’m so old” and keeps on by saying “I think I might leave my job”, and off course it does not make it better when her daughters start a fight on her birthday and totally forgets about her. I suppose she is divorced to her daughters’ father, since he is not there with them, and that is maybe why she feels a bit alone.
When the mother says: “This is lovely isn’t it!” it is very symptomatic of how the mother tackles the critical situation between her daughters. A proper mother would might have tried to clean the air between them, so they could have continued enjoying their dinner in a good mood, like she wanted to. Maybe she is in her menopause and has a hard time dealing with it.
When they get home and the fight continues, the mother tries to stay in the middle of her daughters and does not take side, but when she realizes how much it really affects Rachel and how this stupid thing has ruined her birthday, she has enough and the way she talks to Flora is in a more disappointing way.
One thing that I think is essential for the story is that you have a point of view from all three of them, and that makes you able to understand the problems of them all and it also makes you able to sympathize with them all.
A symbol in the story is the party going on behind them in the restaurant. It is also Larry’s birthday and the people he is surrounded by, certainly know how to celebrate him. “The loud people on the table behind them started to sing HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR LARRY!” The shouts that once in a while is quoted in the text is meant to break the silence, so in some way it symbolises the silence by breaking it.
The meaning of the story is quite hard to figure out and it is hard to figure out what the writer is trying to tell you, but as you dig deeper and deeper in the story, you actually discover more and more. I think that the main theme is to show how important good communication, understanding and appreciation are to a family.
