Chapter 8, Chapter 9 Summary and Analysis

Chapter 8: Walker recalls pleasant Christmas memories of the anticipation leading up to presents and the wonderful food and desserts made by her mother. In private, the family was very close and everything was great. Outside the immediate family, however, there was the potential for embarrassment and ambivalent feelings. Walker recalls one incident in which her mother's money is stolen at the supermarket - which was quite an emergency, as the family lives from week to week - and Doris Jean cannot properly communicate the emergency to the cashier or anyone else. Doris Jean hated to make a scene or call attention to her deafness in any way. This is also evident when Walker makes Doris Jean help her prepare for a spelling bee, and Doris Jean becomes angry and embarrassed because of her difficulties with English.

Walker spends many...