Otherwise known as Thread #395,784 on Skald novel-in-revision.
Quick background: The part of the story I’m revising now concerns the Taliaferro family: Beatrice, a widowed mother in her early 40s; Rosemary, the elder child, 19; and Andy, the protagonist, 14. The novel’s set in the late '80s. As mentioned in this thread, Beatrice is something of a fuck-up; after her husband’s death she abdicated emotional responsibility for raising Andy and running the household to Rosemary, who has been Andy’s de facto parent since she was 15 and he was 10. Rosemary makes sure her mother goes to work and bills get paid; she helps her brother do his homework, difficult because he has a learning disability he’s not getting help with at school; while Beatrice…well…dates. And looks for a new husband. And crawls into her daughter’s bed to weep when her grief overflows. And thinks Andy is simply lacking in potential–“slow”–so she doesn’t push him to do better in school.
Anyway–to the point of this post.
As mentioned in this other thread about the story, I’m revising a chapter in which Rosemary’s birthday is being thrown. As the chapter begins, Andy and his best friend, Hannah (a year younger than he) are in his father’s study, avoiding the party because all the guests are significantly older than they are. There are 20-30 guests; Beatrice handled all the details. Rosemary appears to fetch the younger children, as she can’t enjoy the celebration without the two of them (she is nearly as close to Hannah as she is to Andy). As they head out, Bea’s latest boyfriend arrives and asks to talk to her; Bea asks Rosemary to cover for her in the kitchen while they talk. Heading to the kitchen, Rosemary goggles at the mess her mother’s made; there’s flour and sugar on every surface. She immediately sets about cleaning up, while telling Andy to check the food in the oven; this latter instruction specifically contradicts her mother, who does not believe Andy is to be trusted around the stove. (Nothing bad happens.)
At last the question. Does Rosemary come off badly here? It occurs to me that, given the size of the party and her mother’s known fuck-up-it-ness, she might well have pitched in earlier to avoid the incipient disaster in the kitchen; on the other hand, she might have thought to relax for just one day, given that the party is supposedly in her honor. Also, what about her contradicting her mother’s instructions to Andy? I mean to demonstrate that Rosemary believes in her brother’s potential and competence, while Beatrice infantalizes him; but it occurs to me that by undercutting her mother’s authority in this way (surely not the first time), she could be seen as contributing to a toxic atmosphere in the house. (Rosemary also calls her mother “Bea,” which irritates Andy, though he never calls her on it.)
Any thoughts?