All the Years of Her Life

Describe and explain the point of view and limited perspective of Callaghan’s third-person narrator in “All the Years of Her Life.” What does this narrative point of view bring to the story?

Explain the significance of Mrs. Higgins’s trembling hand in the story’s final scene. How does this compare to earlier descriptions of her physicality, and what role does physical description play in the story?

Alfred’s growth takes place in a single moment of revelation at the story’s end. How does his understanding of adulthood here compare to his earlier view of it?

Describe the relationship between Alfred and Mrs. Higgins. Consider each character’s perspective on the other and examine how each seems to interpret the other’s behavior.

Consider the references to Alfred’s father and to the police. What role does the threat of these male authority figures play in the story? How does it compare to the role of Mrs. Higgins?

Discuss the way in which Alfred speaks—his word choice, syntax, etc. How does Callaghan use this to develop Alfred’s characterization, especially as it relates to his level of maturity? 

Rewrite the scene at Mr. Sam Carr’s drugstore to highlight descriptions of Mrs. Higgins’s internal state and motivations. Then, explain how your narrative changes shift the scene’s focus and alter the story’s overall meaning.

Why does Mrs. Higgins’s behavior in the drugstore prove so disarming to Mr. Carr? What does this suggest about the nature of empathy?