Chapter 7 (Seemothermotherisverynicemotherwillyouplaywithjane motherlaughslaughmotherlaughla)

Study Questions
1. How many brothers and sisters did Pauline have?

2. What fantasies kept her from doing her work?

3. How does Pauline feel when Cholly tickles her?

4. How does Pauline’s happiness with Cholly compare with her fantasies?

5. What becomes the focus of their quarrels?

6. How is Pauline surprised by Cholly when she tells him she is pregnant?

7. What does the doctor say about Pauline and black women in general?

8. Name the groups and organizations of which Pauline is a member.

9. What would Mr. Fisher rather do than sell real estate?

10. Where is the “meaningfulness” in Pauline’s life?

Answers
1. Pauline had ten brothers and sisters; she was the ninth of eleven children.

2. “Fantasies about men and love and touching” were distracting her from her work.

3. When Cholly tickles her foot, Pauline feels all of the pleasant memories of her youth and the colors she associates with these memories. The yellow from the lemonade she drank, the purple of the berries she picked, and the green of the grass “all come together … inside [her].”

4. Pauline feels the happiness of her fantasies “minus the gloom of setting suns and lonely river banks.” There was always a streak of melancholy in her fantasies because she was isolated and alone. Once she meets Cholly, she understands what it truly feels like to be in love.

5. Money becomes the focus of their quarrels. Pauline needs money to buy clothes, while Cholly needs money to get drunk.

6. Cholly is pleased when he finds out that she is pregnant.

7. The doctor says that “these here women” deliver with no pain, “just like horses.”

8. In addition to being an active member of the local church, Pauline is a member of the Stewardess Board No. 3 and Ladies Circle No. 1.

9. Mr. Fisher would rather sell Pauline’s berry cobblers than real estate.

10. Pauline has found significance and “meaningfulness” in her work.