His Final Mother (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Reynolds Price
- First Published: 1990
- Type of Plot: Psychological
- Time of Work: The twentieth century
- Setting: Southern United States
- Principal Characters: Crawford Langley, His father, Adele
- Genres: Psychological fiction, Short fiction
- Subjects: Maturation or coming of age, Parents and children, South or Southerners, Courage, Ghosts or apparitions, Death or dying, Bereavement or grief
- Locales: South (U.S.)
The Story
Adele Langley, the mother of twelve-year-old Crawford, drops dead while hanging a quilt on the backyard clothesline. All the family had been sure her racing heart would shorten her life. Now Crawford must face the crisis that everyone expected. The boy directs the ambulance, sends the body to the funeral home, and waits for his father, who is away on an errand, to arrive. In his attempt to become grown up, Crawford tries to assume an adult role, taking charge in his father's absence.
Crawford analyzes each stage of his own maturation. Bravery, he thinks, is his...
[The entire page is 1358 words long]
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