Anne Anderson and Paula Anderson’s mother-daughter relationship

Anne Anderson and Paula Anderson’s mother-daughter relationship is marked by a durable imbalance of power: Paula seeks reassurance and help, while Anne directs the family, withholds or reshapes information, and treats her mother’s objections as interruptions. Their exchanges after Anne’s father dies show both the practical dependence between them and the fear that attends it; Anne’s childhood history makes clear that the pattern did not begin with the funeral.

Family Authority and Longstanding Patterns

Anne’s command over the household reaches back to childhood. At three, she was already grinding her teeth, a habit her parents noticed but did not treat as a lasting problem. By six and a half, she was, in the narrator’s account, already ruling the family in a way that was difficult to define. Her parents became accustomed to her forceful presence, even as the grinding continued and worsened. By fifteen it caused pain, and by eighteen she insisted on expensive dental crowns, arguing that her parents had allowed the problem to persist and should not later declare it her responsibility. These details place Anne’s later authority over Paula within a family history in which Anne’s insistence gradually became ordinary, while her parents’ objections had little lasting force.

That history does not make Paula simply absent from the relationship. She cared for her dying husband at home, refusing to have him moved to an intensive-care facility and tending to his medication and daily needs. Anne recognizes that her own pressure on her father to sell the house preceded his final stroke, but the narrative also shows her unwilling to acknowledge responsibility. The family’s caregiving and grief therefore coexist with blame, resentment, and an established hierarchy in which Anne determines what will happen next.

The Funeral and Bobbi’s Absence

After the death, Paula asks Anne whether she has reached Bobbi and whether Bobbi will come to the funeral. Anne gives her no assurance that Bobbi will attend. Instead, she tells her mother that Bobbi said she was glad their father was dead, a claim that the account presents as Anne’s lie. Paula responds by covering her ears and shrieking. The moment reveals how Anne’s control extends beyond decisions: she can shape the news Paula receives, and her version of Bobbi’s response intensifies the family’s grief rather than easing it.

Paula’s question also shows her dependence on Anne as the person who can reach Bobbi and interpret the failed contact. Anne, however, sees Bobbi’s refusal to commit as defiance. Rather than help Paula bear uncertainty, she turns that uncertainty into an occasion for anger and plans to bring Bobbi back herself. The sisters’ estrangement thus enters the mother-daughter relationship indirectly: Paula hopes for a reunion, while Anne uses her authority to make the reunion serve her own determination.

A Failed Attempt to Reach Bobbi

Anne tries again to telephone after telling the family that Bobbi had spoken cruelly about their father. The calls do not connect; the line produces a siren-like sound, and Anne contacts the operator to report the fault. When Paula asks whether she has reached Bobbi, Anne answers that neither Bobbi nor the town constable is answering. Paula tentatively suggests contacting one of Bobbi’s friends. Anne rejects the suggestion, saying that she knows a man answered the phone once and that she can tell from his voice that he was drunk. She concludes that Bobbi and the man know she is trying to get through and will regret obstructing her.

Paula’s response is to fall silent, trembling, with one hand near the collar of her black dress. When she begins to object to Anne’s language, Anne shouts at her to shut up, and Paula immediately does so. The exchange makes the relationship’s imbalance explicit: Paula’s concern does not alter Anne’s course, and even a mild reproach is quickly suppressed. Anne’s anger is not confined to Bobbi or the people she believes are keeping Bobbi from her; it governs the room and dictates when Paula may speak.

Interrupted Plans and Continuing Dependence

Anne’s departure for Maine is delayed when Paula falls down the stairs and breaks her hip. Anne’s first response is resentment at the disruption, and she suspects—without evidence—that Paula may have done it deliberately to keep her from going after Bobbi. The thought shows how thoroughly Anne interprets her mother’s actions through conflict and control. Even in a moment when Paula needs assistance, Anne’s attention turns to the effect on her plans.

Anne eventually travels to Bangor, but Paula remains part of the chain of events that shapes her departure: Anne has been caring for her after the fall, and her trip is postponed until she can leave. The relationship is therefore not simply one of Anne’s dominance over a powerless mother. Paula’s needs can interrupt Anne’s intentions, but Anne experiences those needs as an impediment and responds with suspicion rather than tenderness. Taken together, the funeral conversations, the failed calls, and the injury show a bond sustained by family obligation while repeatedly narrowed by Anne’s impatience and Paula’s fearful deference.