In the Zoo | In the Zoo

At a glance:

Author: Jean Stafford
First Published: 1953
Type of Plot: Domestic realism
Time of Work: The early twentieth century
Setting: Adams, Colorado
Principal Characters: The narrator, Mrs. Daisy Murphy, Mrs. Placer (Gran), Mr. Murphy, Laddy (Caesar)
Genres: Short fiction, Domestic realism
Subjects: Memory, Dogs, Jealousy, envy, or resentment, Orphans or orphanages, Hunting or hunters, Animals, Poisons or poisoning, Animals, dangerous, Zoos
Locales: Adams, CO

The Story

Two sisters, now grown and living apart, visit each other every other year at a convenient railroad hub, Denver. There they go to the zoo and reminisce about their childhood, especially about Mr. Murphy, who kept a small collection of animals in his backyard, and their foster mother, the awful Mrs. Placer.

Mrs. Placer ran a boardinghouse, and she liked her tenants and the girls to call her Gran. She and the boarders had a favorite activity: nursing resentments. At the end of each day, sitting down to their “ugly-colored” meal, Mrs. Placer and the guests...

In the Zoo | In the Zoo

At a glance:

The Story

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