Character Analysis of the Short Story Mrs. Turner Cutting the Grass by Carol Shields Free Essay Example, 1000 words

It is her return to Winnipeg that makes her life what it is and invests her character with a sadly comic aura. III Trait II A. Secrecy B. Mrs. Turner is a woman of many secrets and inspite of her pretensions of being air headed, she knows how to keep all her intimate details to herself. Her time in New York is one of those unsavory chapters of her life of which even her closest people-like her parents and sisters do not know anything about. C. It could be the desire to keep her past under wraps that makes Mrs. Turner chose a life of boring domesticity in a little town. From her past life we know that she is a spirited girl who would not think twice before setting off to make a life of her own. But it is this sheer knack of keeping secrets that helps her to marry a good man and to rebuild her life in the town of her childhood, among family and friends. We will write a custom essay sample on Character Analysis of the Short Story Mrs. Turner Cutting the Grass by Carol Shields or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now D. Her secrecy could be attributed to her practical nature, which teaches her that certain aspects of one’s life cannot be revealed to our nearest and dearest also. IV . Trait III Banality of her life A. Mrs. Turner’s life inspite of its colorful past was nothing short of banal in the years after the death of her husband. As she herself said, she was far from rich, but a little thriftiness in her lifestyle, assured for her a trip every spring. In the course of years, she had traveled to the many corners of the globe but she could not shake off the commonality of her persona. This trait is brought forth through the Professor’s poem â€Å"A Day At The Golden Pavilion† where he narrates how three Midwestern lady tourists, in the Golden Pavilion at Kyoto could talk only about where to go next for their vacation, instead of enjoying the transcendental beauty of the immaculate masterpiece of architecture. B. The Turner sisters remind the Professor of the three furies of classical literature, with their incessant talk and loud behavior. It alienates the trio from the other tourists and at the end of the story, Mrs. Turner becomes a tool to create laughter She is the unwitting comedian in the Professor’s poetry readings. For the students, she is an excellent caricature of the gross and uncouth tourists they have met during their trips. When Mrs. Turner travels, even to an exotic place like Japan all that she sees is the carrots and lettuce growing side by side. C. The banality of her existence brings the reader back to the realization that whatever adventures Mrs. Turner may have had in her life, she is at the end of it all, just another old housewife, whose life is a litany of mundane chores.