Aunt Florrie | Social Sensitivity

Aunt Florrie Social Sensitivity

The narrator of "Aunt Florrie" seems to be a snob and a member of a snobbish family; they dislike the company of poor relatives. This makes them less than endearing; if fact, they almost deserve the horrible Aunt Florrie. One effect of making the family unpleasant, at least for an American audience, is to make the bad events that befall them seem deserved and thus somewhat more tolerable than they would be if the family were enlightened enough to care for the needy.

The family's focus at Christmas seems to be on candies, dinner, and gifts—a secular attitude toward a religious holiday. Having the home decorated with plastic imitations of real trees and other decorations adds a background of artificiality to the family's celebration. This seems to reflect both their social class and a secular era; their blinkered preoccupation with the "goodies" of Christmas is shared by many...
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