Book Summary

Cody became extremely upset over Ezra doing something better, acted impulsively and caused an arrow to be shot unexpectedly, hitting his mother in the shoulder. Pearl remembered the trip clearly, as did Cody and Beck. Cody remembered, "that arrow sailing in its graceful, fluttering path. His mother’s upright form along the grasses, her hair lit gold, her small hands smoothing her bouquet while the arrow journeyed on" (303). The next week while Pearl was recovering, Beck came home from a short business trip and after a mild fight with Pearl left. He couldn't take it anymore; Pearl had "worn him down." Beck ran away from the same problems that would end up ruining his children. Pearl, a single mother now, decides to deny to her children that something is wrong. She tells her children that Beck is only away on business and should be back anytime. She intends to not let her children know what happened; she felt she would have to appear strong. She only intends for the best of things for herself and her family now that Beck is gone. Pearl takes on a job cashiering at a local grocery store. She explains this to her children by saying she needs something to fight boredom.

Though Pearl thinks that she is doing things right, what she fails to see is that the same things she did to alienate her husband Beck she is now doing to her children. After his mother's death Cody would say that Beck "left them with a raving, shrieking, unpredictable witch" (294). Pearl apparently unknowing to her had a short fuse; she would explode at any moment with a fury of anger at her children. In a moment of rage Pearl once said, "I wish you'd all die, and let me go free, I wish I'd find you dead in your beads." Pearl's anger along with her specific habits shape the future for her children. While her intentions were to be the "perfect mother" she failed to give to her children the one thing that makes a mother perfect, her love. Cody was the oldest child and probably showed the greatest need for his mother's love. As a small child Cody made the realization to himself that Ezra was the favorite son. In Cody's eyes, whatever he did was not as good as what did Ezra to his mother.

Cody often got into trouble and would pin it on Ezra in order to see how his mother would take it. As a result of this envy Cody would be saddled with a burden, Ezra. As he aged Cody became a successful businessman. Cody often had girlfriends that he would bring home who would all become incredibly charmed with Ezra. Shortly thereafter Cody would loose interest in the girl. Cody could not see himself with a girl that would like his younger brother more than himself. While most of this went on in Cody's head and did not make much sense to anyone else it is the result of a scar left by his mother. The only girl Cody wound up marrying was the one girl he was able to win away from Ezra, A young redhead who Ezra was already! engaged to. Partly out of spite for his brother, partly out of spite for his mother Cody enticed this girl into love and marriage.

Cody was even told "You've got no earthly use for that girl. She's not your type in the slightest; she belongs to your brother Ezra, and she's the only thing in this world he's ever wanted" (153). Cody was told that what he was doing was wrong. Even with disapproval he went through with the wedding. Cody's decision was in part made only to spite his brother. Though Cody and his wife professed love for each other, it usually is not considered correct to steal your bride from your own brother. Pearl had intended to be more affectionate to the gentler, more needy Ezra and let Cody be to himself a bit more as he was the stronger of the two brothers, but her intentions let an extremely bitter child turn into an angry, hard to please adult. Ezra was Pearl's second child. Unlike Cody Ezra was a very gentle, easygoing, hard to be bothered person. Pampered by his mother and resented by his brother Ezra developed his own unique personality that was almost the opposite of his older brother. Pearl wanted nothing more than for Ezra to go to college and become a teacher; however, Ezra had different plans.

After he had graduated from high school, Ezra began working at a restaurant called Scarlotti's. At this restaurant he found a place where he felt useful and he also found the mother he never had. Mrs. Scarlotti had lost her son in combat and Ezra took the place almost perfectly. She taught him how to "run" a restaurant and Ezra filled a void in her life. This restaurant, which would later become Ezra's, was the only constant in Ezra's life. The one woman he had loved and wanted to marry had been stolen away by his own brother and upon hearing that her son would be eventually taking over the restaurant, Pearl became angry and violent. Pearl could not see how Ezra would mess his life up after she had planned it so that he would go to college and become a teacher, maybe a professor. Though Pearl had intended to love and shape Ezra into a great person, she in a sense handicapped him. Ezra had the most to lose from his mother's death. He had become an old man who lived with his mother. Ezra worked went home, took care of his mother, nothing more, nothing less.

Once again, while Pearl tried to craft a strong beautiful man she failed to provide Ezra with the independence he would need to survive. The youngest of the three children was Jenny. Jenny was very thin, and could have been, with a little work, extremely beautiful. Pearl in an attempt to have Jenny marry someone that she should have, constantly berated Jenny when she was with someone who was not "appropriate." One time after Pearl saw Jenny kissing someone that she did not approve of, Pearl called jenny "a piece of trash, a tramp" (79). Jenny would eventually marry three people. The first was Harvey, a man who completely infatuated her with his intelligence. Harvey quickly became to Jenny a figure exactly like her mother. Jenny began to grow disgusted with everything that Harvey did. Her second husband was an artist who left Jenny for a model after Jenny had become pregnant. The third husband is the one that Jenny kept. He was a man with a large amount of children that she had stumbled onto while making an unexpected house call. While Jenny eventually became happy with her life, Pearl did not.

Pearl always questioned Jenny about what she wore, the way she fixed her hair, and for the way she carried herself. Pearl had attempted to groom Jenny into being like she was; however, Jenny grew to dislike habits and characteristics associated with her mother and became almost just the opposite. While Pearls intentions damaged each of her children independently of each other, her family was also damaged as a whole. Beck wrote and sent money occasionally. Cody moved away and rarely communicated with his mother. It was two years before he allowed her to see her grandchild. Ezra and Jenny stayed close to home yet never seemed to connect much with each other. While Ezra stayed at home with his mother, he disliked it and even considered death as a way out. The family hardly did anything together and perhaps the only true family reunion that occurred was based on Pearl's funeral.