Chapter 44 — Teaching Companion

What it asks It asks the student to look hard at the moment Abra hears a lesson and walks past it. She tells the story as part of her theory about Aron: “Maybe some people need things more than others, or hate things more. My father hates turnips. He always did. Never came from anything.” Her mother, “huffy,” made a casserole of mashed turnips “with lots of pepper and cheese on top,” her father ate half a dish before he asked what it was, and when he heard, he threw it on the floor. Abra adds, “I don’t think he ever forgave her.” Lee chuckles and turns the story over: “He can forgive her because she said turnips,” but if she had said something else and he found out afterward, “he might have murdered her.” Abra answers, “I guess so. Well, anyway, I figure Aron needed a mother more than Cal did.” A few minutes later she tells Lee she is afraid Aron will see something in her that is not in the girl he made up: “He’ll find out.” And she agrees, with one word, that she wishes she could “dump it all back.” The question touches the hinge: the chapter is full of people deciding whether to name a thing now or let it be found out later, and here Abra is offered that choice before she is ready to see it is hers.

One reading

She has not seen it yet. She is busy with her theory, which she says she has not finished, and the turnips were only an example of a man who hates things. Lee’s point is about her, a dish dressed up and liked until it is named, but she does not hear it as hers until a few minutes later, when she says Aron will “find out.”

• I figured this out and I’m not quite finished figuring.
• I guess so. Well, anyway, I figure Aron needed a mother more than Cal did.

Another reading

She has seen it, and it is too close. A girl who is afraid of being found out does not want to stay on a story where the lie ends in murder. So she hurries back to Aron. Within minutes she is saying the thing Lee meant, in her own words: he will find out, and she would rather be herself than wait for it.

• And then afterward he found out. Why, he might have murdered her.
• He’ll find out.

Listen for

• Notices that the dish was dressed up, peppered and browned, and liked until it was named.
• Hears how quickly Abra moves on: “I guess so. Well, anyway.”
• Connects Lee’s lesson to Abra’s own fear a few minutes later, “He’ll find out,” without being told to.
• Keeps the story from being only a joke: it is about a truth told in time and a lie that would have been worse.

If stuck

• Why does Abra say she is telling the turnip story?
• What does Lee say would have happened if her mother had lied?
• What is Abra afraid Aron will do, a few minutes later?

A strong answer A strong response gives a reason Abra lets Lee’s point go and grounds it in the story and what follows it. One reader says she has not seen it yet: she is still “figuring” her theory, and only later hears that she is the dish that may be found out. Another says she has seen it and it is too close, so she hurries back to Aron, then says Lee’s lesson herself: “He’ll find out.” The best answers notice the dish was liked until it was named, and keep the story from being only comic.

What it asks It asks the student to stand inside Abra at the moment a truth gets out ahead of her, and to say why she did not know it was there. She asks, “Do you think he’ll be a minister?” Lee answers, “How do I know?” and “Maybe it’s just an idea.” Then Abra says, “I hope he doesn’t,” and the narrator adds that “she clapped her mouth shut in astonishment at having said it.” She hopes Lee did not hear; he did, and asks why. She says, “I shouldn’t say it,” and then, over the pounding of the meat, “He goes all one way,” and “If it’s church it’s got to be high church. He was talking about how priests shouldn’t be married.” A few lines later she says, “Lee, I’m not good enough for him.” The narrator has told us that Abra “wanted to tell Lee only true things even when she wasn’t quite sure what was true.” The chapter says she still means to marry Aron: “I’m going to be his wife.” The question touches the hinge: this is the first true thing about herself that Abra hears herself say, before she knows she thinks it.

One reading

Because she has not let herself think it. She means to be Aron’s wife, and the life that goes with his plan comes with him. A minister who “goes all one way,” who talks of priests not marrying, wants a wife as pure as the church. Her wish is against that life, and she hears it only once it is out loud.

• He goes all one way,
• He was talking about how priests shouldn’t be married.

Another reading

Because the true thing came before she knew it was true. The narrator says she tells Lee only true things “even when she wasn’t quite sure what was true,” and here it happens. The surprise is less about the church than about herself: she is not the girl Aron is writing to, and part of her already knows it.

• Abra wanted to tell Lee only true things even when she wasn’t quite sure what was true.
• Lee, I’m not good enough for him.

Listen for

• Notices that the words get out before Abra decides to say them: “astonishment at having said it.”
• Uses what she says next, “He goes all one way,” and the talk of priests who do not marry.
• Connects the slip to the narrator’s line about telling Lee “only true things.”
• Does not say she has stopped caring for Aron: she says, “I’m going to be his wife.”

If stuck

• What does Abra hope, right after she says it?
• What reasons does she give, once Lee asks why?
• What did the narrator tell us about the kind of things Abra says to Lee?

A strong answer A strong response says why Abra’s own wish, “I hope he doesn’t,” takes her by surprise, and grounds it in the lines that follow. One reader says she has not let herself think it, since she means to marry Aron and he “goes all one way” and talks of priests who do not marry. Another says the true thing came before she knew it, as the narrator warned, and that it is about her, not the church. The best answers notice her astonishment and do not say she has stopped caring for Aron.

What it asks It asks the student to read closely the few minutes between a refusal and an answer. Abra’s tapping grows “erratic and nervous” while Lee moves five lima beans into “a line, an angle, a circle.” Then: “Is Mrs. Trask alive?” Lee’s finger “hung over a bean for a moment and then slowly fell and pushed it to make the O into a Q.” “His thought raced like a rat new caught in a wire trap.” He tells her, “I’m tired and I’m cowardly,” and “I will not put my finger in any human pie.” He asks about her father and turnips; she says, “I asked you a question,” and he answers, “I did not hear a question.” He tells her about a woman of thirty-five and says, “If I had anything at all to say—I would say it to you,” and “Please forgive me.” Then “Abra reached across the table and touched the back of his hand with floury fingers.” She tells him, “My father wanted a boy. I guess he hates turnips and girls,” and gives the line her name comes from, “And though I called another, Abra came.” Lee says, “You’re such a nice girl,” and offers turnips for dinner. Abra asks softly, “Is she alive?” and Lee says, “Yes.” The chapter does not say what else Lee knows, and Abra learns only that the woman is alive. The question touches the hinge: something passes between them before the truth does.

One reading

Abra changed. She stopped pressing and gave him something of her own: a father who wanted a boy and “hates turnips and girls.” She touched his hand. After that the question is no longer a demand about the Trasks but one hurt person asking another, and Lee can answer it.

• My father wanted a boy. I guess he hates turnips and girls.
• Abra reached across the table and touched the back of his hand with floury fingers.

Another reading

The question changed, and so did Lee. “Mrs. Trask” is a name with a whole family behind it; “she” is only a woman, asked about softly. Lee has already said that if he had anything to say, he would say it to her. Once she stops making him choose sides and only asks, he keeps his word in one syllable.

• If I had anything at all to say—I would say it to you.
• You’re such a nice girl,

Listen for

• Sets the two askings side by side: “Is Mrs. Trask alive?” and the soft “Is she alive?”
• Notices what Abra does in between: the floury touch, her father who wanted a boy, the line her name comes from.
• Looks at the beans, the O made into a Q, and Lee’s thought racing in a trap, as the first answer he does not say.
• Claims nothing about the mother beyond “Yes”: Abra learns only that she is alive.

If stuck

• What does Lee do with the beans when she first asks?
• What does Abra tell Lee about her father, just before she asks again?
• How is the second question different from the first, in its words and in how she says it?

A strong answer A strong response names what changed between the two askings and grounds it in the lines between them. One reader says Abra changed: she stopped pressing, touched his hand, and gave him a hurt of her own, a father who “hates turnips and girls.” Another says the question and Lee changed: “Mrs. Trask” became a soft “she,” and Lee kept his promise that he would say it to her. The best answers set the two questions side by side, notice the floury touch, and claim nothing about the mother beyond the one word.

What it asks It asks the student to read Cal’s plan for what it shows of his wish. He comes in grinning, hands Lee a check (“I didn’t want interest,” Lee says), and will not say where he got the money. His eyes flick to Abra; she says she has to go home; he says, “She might as well be in on it. I decided to do it Thanksgiving, and Abra’ll probably be around and Aron will be home.” He has “a present for my father,” and “I won’t tell. You’ll find out then.” Abra says she never saw him “gay” before, and “She discovered in herself a warmth for him.” Alone with Lee he wonders whether to give it before the dinner or after, and Lee says, “After.” Asked if he stole the money, he says, “Honestly,” and goes on: “Remember how we had champagne for Aron? We’ll get champagne. And—well, we’ll maybe decorate the dining room. Maybe Abra’ll help.” Lee asks, “Do you really think your father wants money?” Cal asks, “Why wouldn’t he?” and Lee says, “I hope you’re right.” Here gay means cheerful, full of high spirits. The chapter does not say where the money came from, and Thanksgiving has not happened, so it does not say how Adam will take the present; the answer should not. The question touches the hinge: Cal, who will admit on the walk that he goes to bad houses, is planning in secret to be seen at his best.

One reading

He wants a night like Aron’s. There was champagne for his brother; now there will be champagne for him, with a present to put in his father’s hands. He wants, for once, to be the son the table is set for, and he wants Aron there to see it.

• Remember how we had champagne for Aron? We’ll get champagne.
• I’ve got a present for my father.

Another reading

He wants the whole family together, himself inside it. He picks a day when Aron will be home and Abra around, and he wants her help with the room. It is less a contest than a homecoming, and Abra, who used to be glad when he was out, is part of the picture he has made.

• I decided to do it Thanksgiving, and Abra’ll probably be around and Aron will be home.
• Maybe Abra’ll help.

Listen for

• Notices that the last champagne was for Aron, and what it means that Cal wants the same.
• Notices who Cal plans to have at the table, and that he wants Abra’s help.
• Weighs Lee’s doubt, “Do you really think your father wants money?”, and his “I hope you’re right,” without deciding how Adam will take it.
• Says nothing about where the money came from or how the dinner will go.

If stuck

• Who was the champagne for, the last time?
• Who will be at the dinner, by Cal’s plan?
• What does Lee ask Cal about his father and money?

A strong answer A strong response says what Cal hopes the dinner will be and grounds it in his plan. One reader says he wants a night like Aron’s, with champagne and a present for his father, and the son the table is set for at last. Another says he wants a homecoming: Aron back, Abra there, the room decorated, and himself inside the family. The best answers weigh Lee’s doubt without deciding how Adam will take the gift, and say nothing about where the money came from.

What it asks It asks the student to give Abra’s own question an object, and to follow her theory one step further, as she said it would go: “I figured this out and I’m not quite finished figuring.” In the kitchen she says, “He’s made someone up, and it’s like he put my skin on her,” and “I used to think he knew me. Now I’m not sure he ever did.” She agrees with Lee that Aron, without a mother, “made her everything good he could think of,” and dumped it all on her. She also says, “Lee, I’m not good enough for him.” The next day, on the walk, she asks Cal, “What’s the matter with Aron?” and says, “He just seems to think only about himself.” Then: “Cal, he writes me love letters now—only they aren’t to me.” Cal asks who they are to. She answers, “It’s like they were to—himself.” She says, “I just can’t find him. I don’t know him,” and then, “I wonder if I’ll be all right. Do you think I could have been wrong all the time?” Cal answers, “How do I know?” The narrator has told us that Aron’s letters are “drenched with lonesome longing for his girl,” and that in the kitchen Abra “wasn’t aware that she spoke exclusively of herself.” The chapter gives Aron’s own mind only through his letters and Abra’s reading of them, and she still means to be his wife; the answer should claim neither more about Aron nor a turn away from him. The question touches the hinge: whatever she was wrong about, the next thing she tells Cal is a truth about herself.

One reading

Wrong about Aron. She thought he knew her; now his letters seem to go to his own dream, not to her. If the made-up girl is all the good he could think of, she was never the one being written to. “I just can’t find him” is the same discovery from the other side.

• It’s like they were to—himself.
• I just can’t find him. I don’t know him.

Another reading

Wrong about herself, as she saw it in the kitchen. There the trouble was that she was “not good enough for him.” If the letters are to Aron himself, maybe that was never the trouble at all, and she does not know yet what she is instead. That is why she wonders whether she will “be all right.”

• Lee, I’m not good enough for him.
• I wonder if I’ll be all right.

Listen for

• Gives “wrong” an object, and grounds it in both the kitchen and the walk.
• Hears the dash in “to—himself,” and what the pause before the word shows.
• May notice that the narrator says Abra spoke “exclusively of herself” to Lee, and weigh that against her charge that Aron thinks “only about himself.”
• Claims nothing about what Aron thinks or means, and does not say she has given him up; the chapter gives only his letters and her reading of them.

If stuck

• What did Abra tell Lee, in the kitchen, about whether Aron knew her?
• Who does she say the letters seem to be written to?
• What does she say just before she asks if she was wrong?

A strong answer A strong response says what Abra might have been wrong about and grounds it in both the kitchen and the walk. One reader says she was wrong about Aron: she thought he knew her, and his letters seem to go “to—himself.” Another says she was wrong about herself as she saw it in the kitchen, “not good enough for him,” and now does not know if she will “be all right.” The best answers hear the dash, use her own word for her theory, and say nothing about Aron’s mind beyond his letters.

What it asks It asks the student to judge where the made-up girl comes from, and whether Abra, by trying to live up to her, shares any of the blame. In the kitchen Abra says, “He doesn’t think about me. He’s made someone up, and it’s like he put my skin on her,” and the girl is “Pure!” and a “white—ghost.” “He doesn’t know me. He doesn’t even want to know me.” Her own theory is that Aron, without a mother, “made her everything good he could think of.” But the chapter opens by saying “Aron and Abra had fenced themselves in with themselves,” and that “Together they were matter of fact,” while the passion came by letter from ninety miles away. Lee asks, “Is it pretty hard trying to live up to the one—in your skin?” and Abra answers, “I’m always afraid he’ll see something in me that isn’t in the one he made up.” At home, the narrator says, what she can say to her father and mother is “thin and pale and tired and mostly not even true.” She tried to fight with Aron about the church, “but he wouldn’t.” The chapter gives Aron’s mind only through his letters and Abra’s reading of them, so the answer should not speak for him. The question touches the hinge: if Abra helped make the girl, then telling the truth about herself is hers to do.

One reading

Yes, by hiding. She has been trying to “live up to” the girl and is “always afraid he’ll see something” that does not fit. Together they were only “matter of fact,” so Aron had little of the real Abra to go on. And she is used to giving people a thin version of herself: at home almost nothing she says is true.

• I’m always afraid he’ll see something in me that isn’t in the one he made up.
• Together they were matter of fact,

Another reading

No. The girl is Aron’s. By Abra’s own theory, he made her out of the mother he lacked, and he does not want to know anything else: “He doesn’t even want to know me.” When Abra tried to fight, he would not. Lee says no one is pure, so no girl could have kept the image alive. Hiding from a picture you cannot match is fear, not making.

• He doesn’t even want to know me.
• Nobody is,

Listen for

• States a thesis on whether Abra helped make the girl, grounded in the kitchen and in the chapter’s opening paragraphs.
• Uses the opening: “fenced themselves in with themselves” and “matter of fact” together, against letters full of passion.
• Meets the strongest objection: Abra’s fear and silence, or Aron’s refusal to know her, whichever the thesis did not start from.
• Speaks for Abra, not for Aron; claims nothing about his mind beyond his letters and her reading of them.

If stuck

• What does Abra say she is afraid Aron will see?
• What were Aron and Abra like when they were together, before he left?
• What does Abra say Aron does when she tries to fight with him?

A strong answer A strong response builds a thesis on whether Abra helped make the girl, meets the strongest objection, and revises. One thesis says yes, by hiding: she has tried to “live up to” the image and fears being seen, and the opening says they were only “matter of fact” together. The strongest objection is that Aron “doesn’t even want to know” her and would not fight, and Lee says nobody is pure. A good revision might say Aron made the girl and Abra’s fear kept her alive, which is why Abra now wants to “dump it all back.” The best answers use the chapter’s opening and do not speak for Aron.

What it asks It asks the student to test a man’s judgment of himself against what he does. When Abra asks, “Is Mrs. Trask alive?”, Lee tells her, “I’m a servant. I’m old. I’m Chinese. These three you know. I’m tired and I’m cowardly.” He says, “I will not put my finger in any human pie,” turns the talk to her father and turnips, and tells her, “I did not hear a question.” He says, “I have enough sins to trouble me,” and “Please forgive me.” Yet he has told her, “You should say anything you want to,” and “If I had anything at all to say—I would say it to you.” At her second, soft asking he says, “Yes.” With Cal he asks outright, “You mean, did I steal it?” “Yes.” Then he asks, “Do you really think your father wants money?”, and when Cal asks, “Why wouldn’t he?”, he says only, “I hope you’re right,” and asks about school. Earlier he says, “I never saw anybody get mixed up in other people’s business the way I do. And I’m a man who doesn’t have a final answer about anything.” The chapter does not say where Cal’s money came from or how Adam will take the present, and the answer should not. The question touches the hinge: Lee is the one who weighs, all chapter long, what it costs to tell the truth about a person.

One reading

Yes, by his own measure. Twice he backs away from a truth that is not his to tell. He pretends not to hear Abra’s question. He raises a doubt with Cal and then drops it with “I hope you’re right” and a question about school. He calls it cowardice because he knows he is choosing to stay out.

• I will not put my finger in any human pie.
• I hope you’re right,

Another reading

No. A coward would have said nothing at all. He gives Abra her “Yes.” He asks Cal straight out whether he stole the money. He puts the hard question about Adam in front of Cal. And it takes some nerve to tell a girl, plainly, that you are old, tired and afraid. Calling himself “cowardly” may be his way of keeping his distance, not the truth.

• Yes,
• Do you really think your father wants money?

Listen for

• States a thesis on whether Lee is cowardly and tests it against both scenes, Abra’s and Cal’s.
• Weighs what Lee refuses and what he gives: the pretence of hearing no question, and then “Yes.”
• Notices the pattern with Cal: a straight question, a doubt raised, and then “I hope you’re right.”
• Meets the strongest objection and revises; does not make Lee a wise old man who is always right, and claims nothing about the money or the dinner.

If stuck

• What does Lee refuse to do when Abra first asks about Mrs. Trask?
• What does he say the second time she asks?
• What two questions does Lee ask Cal about the money and the present?

A strong answer A strong response builds a thesis on whether Lee is right to call himself cowardly, meets the strongest objection, and revises. One thesis says he is, by his own measure: he pretends not to hear Abra and drops his doubt with Cal after “I hope you’re right.” The strongest objection is what he does give: the “Yes,” the straight question about stealing, and the hard question about Adam. A good revision might say Lee’s courage comes in single words and questions, and that he holds back from deciding for others, which he names as cowardice. The best answers use both scenes and keep Lee from being an oracle.

What it asks It asks the chapter’s whole question. At the start Abra is “relieved” when Cal is out, so he cannot “look secretly at her, judge, appraise, consider”; she “didn’t know whether he liked her or not, and so she didn’t like him.” In the kitchen she tells Lee she is afraid Aron will “find out” she is not the pure girl he made up, and says, “I’d rather be myself.” She sees Cal “gay” over his present and finds “a warmth for him.” The next day she catches him up, tells him Aron’s letters “aren’t to me,” and then asks whether he goes “to—bad houses.” He says, “Yes,” and, “That’s true.” He will not say why. She asks, “Is it because you’re bad?” He answers, “What’s it sound like to you?” Then she says, “I’m not good either.” Cal says, “You’re crazy,” and “Aron will knock that out of you,” and she asks, “Do you think he will?” “Why, sure,” says Cal. “He’s got to.” The chapter does not say what Abra means by not good, and she has said to Lee, “I’m going to be his wife.” It shows no more than a warmth for Cal, and the answer should claim no more.

One reading

Because Cal has just told her a hard truth about himself and has not dressed it up. He is the one person who will not need her to be pure, since he does not claim to be good. The word “either” puts her beside him. Saying it to Cal is the first time she does what she told Lee she wanted: to be herself and take the chance.

• That’s true.
• I’d rather be myself.

Another reading

Because he is Aron’s brother and the nearest thing to saying it to Aron. She wants to hear how the truth will land. Cal’s answer is the one she fears from Aron: that the real her must be knocked out. Her question, “Do you think he will?”, may be a hope or a fear, and the chapter ends without saying which.

• Aron will knock that out of you.
• Do you think he will?

Listen for

• States a thesis on why Abra says it to Cal and builds it from the kitchen as well as the walk.
• Notices the word “either,” and that she says it just after Cal admits the bad houses.
• Weighs Cal’s reply, “Aron will knock that out of you,” and her question back.
• Meets the strongest objection and revises; does not say she has turned from Aron to Cal, or make her lovesick or a rebel.

If stuck

• What has Cal just admitted when Abra says she is not good either?
• What did Abra tell Lee she would rather be?
• How did Abra feel about Cal at the start of the chapter, and how has that changed?

A strong answer A strong response builds a thesis on why Abra tells Cal, meets the strongest objection, and revises. One thesis says Cal has just told her a plain truth about himself, so he is the one person who will not need her pure, and “either” puts her beside him. The strongest objection is that he is Aron’s brother and she is testing how the truth will land: his “Aron will knock that out of you” is what she fears, and “Do you think he will?” could be hope or fear. A good revision might say she tries out on Cal the self she means Aron to know. The best answers use the kitchen and claim no turn from Aron to Cal.