Lucky: Memoir page 43-80

Summary
As I continue to follow Alice Sebold on her life after the experience of being raped, she takes us to her childhood. I start to learn more about Alice and what happened to her while growing up. I learned that her mother used to be an alcholic, and is still. Her mother's alcoholism changed her and her sister, Mary. Sometimes during the night, she would wake up to hear her mother making "horrible noises" and when she goes to her parents room to find out what's going on, she sees her mother spewing out blood. Her mother also had these "flaps", when her mother gets crazy. These flaps occured anywhere and anytime. Sometimes when the went to the store to buy gorceriris, Alice's mother would be rubbing inappropraite body parts and Mary would yell hat her to stop doing what she's doing. Alice finds out that her family as 'weird'. Not weird as in the sense of 'koko' but weird as in the do not do what other families in the community typically do, just like the Bradleys in TO KILL A MOCKINBIRD. She noticed that most fathers would drink beer, mow lawns, or play with thier kids. Her father, however drank sherry, ate raw meat, read a huge Latin dictionary and spoke spanish on the phone. When her friend, whose name is not mentioned in the memoir, tells her that her family was considered weird in the community, Alice begins to cry and evaluates her family and starts to see that the community is right, her family is weird in a sort of way.


Quote
"But I watched my sister develop from a child who thought the world would fall apart to a young adult who resented how the flaps made us different, exciting stares and comments in public" (Sebold 48).


Reaction

This quote shows and symbolizes the effects of Alice's mother's "flaps" on their childhoods. I can't imagine going to school and with everyone knoing that my mother was a crazy drunk. It must have had a huge toll on both of the girls. Not only was Mary, Alice's sister, affected, but Alice as well. While Mary was being the bossy "Don't do this in public" or "Don't Do that in public", Alice was being the kind and caring duaghter, sothing and comforting her mother whenever needed, which was most of the time.