ESSAY CEMETERY

Themes and Characterization ·        Mrs. Hopewell's sayings ·        Acceptance of imperfection “Nothing is perfect.  This was one of Mrs. Hopewell’s favorite sayings.  Another was:  that is life!” ·        Relative truth/ acceptance and understanding “And still another, the most important, was:  well, other people have their opinions too” ·        Hulga's excessive pessimism vs. her mother's feigned optimism ·        Mrs. Hopewell's secret criticism of Hulga “There was nothing wrong with her face that a pleasant expression wouldn’t help.  Mrs. Hopewell said that people who looked on the bright side of things would be beautiful even if they were not.” ·        Educated women and scorn for them ·        Mrs. Hopewell's hypocrisy- feigns openmindedness but is harsh with her daughter ‘“Why!” she cried, “good country people are the salt of the earth!  Besides, we all have different ways of doing, it takes all kinds to make the world

Mrs. Hopewell is the focalizer mainly but this shifts sometime, slightly to Joy or to Mrs. Freeman. Every morning, Mrs. Freeman comes over to the Hopewells' to "carry on business". They speak of the Freeman daughters, Glynese and Carrramae, while Joy, Mrs. Hopewell's 32 year old artificial-legged daughter, is in the bathroom. Mrs. Freeman works for Mrs. Hopewell and Mrs. Hopewell is not ashamed because the Freemans are not trash. Mrs. Hopewell was told that Mrs. Freeman was extremely nosy, but she was the only applicant. So, Hopewell decided to hire the Freemans anyway as tenants and land workers and put her in charge so that her nosiness would be put to good use. Mrs. Freeman would never admit she was wrong. She thinks a lot of herself and expresses this notion frequently. She frequently intrudes on the Hopewells' privacy but Mrs. Hopewell keeps her because the Freemans are good country people and those are rare. She has had much experience with trash.