‘Paul’s Mother’ Lisa Tuttle’s “Paul’s Mother” is an interesting tale about the relationship between a mother-in-law and her only child’s wife, told from the wife’s perspective. It doesn't take long to realize that there is a lot of tension between these two as the opening sentence to the story begins with “Paul’s mother never liked me”. The story takes place in England and is centered around the jealously and disapproval of the husband Paul’s mother, Lone. Though the strategies of Paul’s mother were never entirely obvious (at least to Paul) they were always malicious and discrete. The wife tried to thwart Lone’s comments by reacting with some of her own, but in the end it always came back to hurt her and her marriage. Time passes by and
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I like to look at the mystery aspect of the plot. We start at the beginning where things between Lone and the wife look as if they could never formulate a good relationship. Lone and Mrs.McGregor go from being worst enemies to as close as family, and thats where it gets interesting. Towards the end of the story Mrs.McGregor comes home to find the child and Lone together; “They are in an embrace, Ione and Leah, when I open the door to the front room and see them. This should not be surprising, for my daughter is a loving, physically affectionate child, and despite her usual reserve, Ione was never reluctant to hug and kiss her grandchild. But I see immediately there is something wrong with this clinch. Their postures are awkward, their connection unnaturally rigid and strained. Ione is sitting in a chair and Leah bending over her, and I have the impression that the old woman has grabbed hold and pulled her down against her will. I see the iron grip of pale, mottled, claw-like hands on tender flesh, and in the arch of the girl’s back and the tension in her neck is a desperate yearning to be free.” (page 3) From this it could be inferred that Lone is hurting the child and something unexplainable occurs during they're moment of silence. Mrs.McGregor goes into detail about this situation, and explains how after this ordeal Leah’s entire
I like to look at the mystery aspect of the plot. We start at the beginning where things between Lone and the wife look as if they could never formulate a good relationship. Lone and Mrs.McGregor go from being worst enemies to as close as family, and thats where it gets interesting. Towards the end of the story Mrs.McGregor comes home to find the child and Lone together; “They are in an embrace, Ione and Leah, when I open the door to the front room and see them. This should not be surprising, for my daughter is a loving, physically affectionate child, and despite her usual reserve, Ione was never reluctant to hug and kiss her grandchild. But I see immediately there is something wrong with this clinch. Their postures are awkward, their connection unnaturally rigid and strained. Ione is sitting in a chair and Leah bending over her, and I have the impression that the old woman has grabbed hold and pulled her down against her will. I see the iron grip of pale, mottled, claw-like hands on tender flesh, and in the arch of the girl’s back and the tension in her neck is a desperate yearning to be free.” (page 3) From this it could be inferred that Lone is hurting the child and something unexplainable occurs during they're moment of silence. Mrs.McGregor goes into detail about this situation, and explains how after this ordeal Leah’s entire