46 pages • 1 hour read
Lives of Girls and Women
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Beta“Heirs of the Living Body”Chapter Summaries & Analyses
“Heirs of the Living Body” Summary
Del spends her summer with her father’s aunts, Aunt Elspeth and Auntie Grace, as well as his Uncle Craig in Jenkin’s Bend. Jenkin’s Bend is named after “a young man killed by a fallen tree just a little way up the road” from her aunt and uncle’s house (35). Del’s uncle works as a clerk for the town, and he spends his time working on various projects, such as compiling their family tree and historical accounts of Wawanash County. During her stay, Del engages with her uncle regarding their familial history and current events, such as World War II. Despite his interest in politics and work with the township, Uncle Craig decides not to run in the local political election, which is praised by Del’s aunts. They don’t believe in prioritizing ambition, especially if there is a chance of not succeeding. The aunts spend most of their time telling Del and one another stories about their experiences, such as the time their father hired an Austrian man to work on the farm. Early in her stay, her aunts and uncle entertain a neighbor and his family for dinner, and they prepared by polishing their best silverware. However, Del’s family finds the neighbor to have poor table manners, and one of her aunts mocks the man for his eating habits.
When Del’s other aunt, Moira, and uncle, Bob Oliphant, come to visit, Del meets her cousin, Mary Agnes. Mary Agnes is a bit older than young Del, and although Mary Agnes “was almost like other people” (45), she is unable to do things like going to the store by herself. Del remembers that her mother told her that Mary Agnes was sexually assaulted by a group of boys. Mary Agnes and Del are told to go play outside, so they walk along the riverbank until they discover a dead cow. Del approaches the cow, but Mary Agnes warns her against doing so. Del dares her cousin to touch the cow, and she does. Mary Agnes threatens to touch Del with the same hand, and Del tries to walk away calmly to avoid showing her fear.
After arriving back home to Flats Road, Del learns Uncle Craig has died. She initially believes that Uncle Craig must have decided he was ready to pass away, but later, Del discovers that he died from a heart attack. Del and her mother discuss the nature of death, and Ada tells Del that she read an article about how organ transplants can be used to keep people alive for longer and could eventually lead to changing how society views death. Although Del does not want to attend the funeral, Ada forces Del to come, even though Owen is left at home. She avoids viewing her uncle’s body in the casket and tries to hide in the kitchen. Mary Agnes attempts to force Del to look at their uncle, and Del retaliates by biting Mary Agnes’s arm and drawing blood. Moira becomes frantic at the sight of blood and her daughter crying, and Del overhears Ada claiming it was her fault for bringing Del.
After the funeral, Elspeth and Grace sell their house in Jenkin’s Bend and move to Jubilee to be closer to Del’s family. They bring Del an old, unfinished manuscript written by Uncle Craig, and they keep it in a locked wooden box. They tell Del they hope she will study his writing and finish it the way he would have. However, Del decides to put the manuscript in a cardboard box in her basement, believing it might bring her bad luck, and uses the wooden box to hold her writing.
Del recalls that during the last spring she spent in Jubilee, a flood ruined the manuscript. She decided to get rid of it, feeling a mixture of guilt and “unblemished satisfaction” when she thinks of her aunts.
“Heirs of the Living Body” Analysis
In “Heirs of the Living Body,” Del cultivates a broader perspective on both life and death as she begins to experience people outside of the Flats Road. Her aunts and uncle live in a comparatively wealthier environment; they have silver table wear, invite others over for dinner parties, and stay well dressed. For example, Uncle Craig refuses to wear anything other than “his tie and waistcoat and jacket” (40), demonstrating his desire to appear formal and put-together at all times. Furthermore, his occupation as a clerk in the Fairmile Township makes Craig feel important due to his role in the community. Del illustrates how, due to her aunts’ and uncle’s higher social status, they behave with contempt and pretentiousness toward people they deem below them, advancing the theme of The Impact of Social Class and Poverty. Del notices this after they host their neighbor for dinner, remarking, “Pretensions were everywhere” (44). Their behaviors and attitudes expose Del to judgments and prejudices against people like the neighbor, who works on his own farm and does not share the same table etiquette as Del’s aunts and uncle. Although Del’s mother judges others in “The Flats Road,” Aunt Grace’s blatant and direct mockery of the neighbor is harsher than the prejudice Del has previously witnessed.
Del begins to seek her own understanding of the world. For instance, she yearns for information about the more grotesque aspects of human life, such as the death of the man for whom Jenkin’s Bend is named. Her urgency to visit the site of his death illustrates an intrigue into the natural processes of life, but despite this curiosity, she does not find as much value in understanding the social structures or history of the area around her. She claims that Uncle Craig worked on various projects, such as compiling the history of Wawanash County, but that he “was not moved to curiosity” in the same way she is (35), implying that her interests stem from an organic, innate interest in the natural world and human life. This interest develops as the story progresses; when Mary Agnes and Del discover the dead cow, Del experiences both contempt and curiosity. She claims she wants “to punish it” for being dead but also to study it “to make sense of it” (51). Del thus exemplifies a realistic approach to a young girl experiencing death, especially in a rural setting. Del wants to understand why life is not permanent, and her inability to grasp death causes her to experience conflicting emotions and to act out in anger, aligning thematically with The Discovery of Identity Through Exploration.
Coupled with Del’s interest in death is her budding interest in language and knowledge; she is intrigued by her uncle’s projects due to how he approaches them and makes connections between the new knowledge he has learned. When Uncle Craig dies, her mother tells her that she must “learn to face things sometimes” when she expresses her unwillingness to attend the funeral (53). Del’s claim that she “did not like the way [Ada] said this” because it causes her to distrust her mother depicts how important language is to her and her development (53). Del views the world through language, and words allow her to create mental images to understand why certain things happen, including death. The aunts’ act of giving Del the manuscript helps her realize that she can continue to use her own language and understanding of the world to express herself without fear. Her decision to place the manuscript in the basement rather than finishing it as her aunts expect thus illustrates Del’s budding sense of agency. This experience serves as a pivotal moment in her coming-of-age story due to her decision to express herself how she sees fit, without the influence of others.
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