Summary Of My Grandma The Poisoner

When I signed up to read “My Grandma the Poisoner” I did so because the title jumped out at me more than my other options. When I went into reading it I wasn’t quite sure if the title was going to be an accurate representation of what I was about to read, or if it was a more abstract, attention-seeking move. I was slightly shocked when I found that the title was a direct, even blunt, representation of the story that I was beginning to read. This title is an interesting move on the part of the author considering that it didn’t seem to be the author’s purpose to truly demonize his elderly grandma, even though he grants her the title of “the Poisoner” in this short essay. In fact, the author, John Reed, looks at his grandma through a sense of …show more content…
He explains that his grandmother was outspoken about him and his wife having a child, and he continued on to say, “even though my wife knew to stay away from her food, everyone slips up a little from time to time. And, well … it was late in the pregnancy for a miscarriage. (Reed 170)” This excerpt allows the reader to infer that, aside from drugging and potentially killing members of his family, he believes his grandmother may have also played a part in his wife’s miscarriage because she didn’t want to have to account for the baby. All this considered, the author still closes by saying that he didn’t believe his grandmother meant any harm. It is hard for most people to accept that the author can still believe his grandmother to be a fundamentally well-meaning person when she does the things that Reed writes about, and he seems to understand that this is a point of confusion. For this reason, it seems that the author’s purpose in writing this piece is not to expose her or forgive her, as he says himself that this isn’t his aim, but to simply chronicle all of the experiences in one place. Quotes like the one earlier in this paragraph support this idea the Reed’s motivation was to chronicle the actions of his grandma because his tone is that of a man who is still sorting his …show more content…
Ultimately Reed writes, “And, well … it was late in the pregnancy for a miscarriage. (Reed 170)” This basically tells the reader that he believes his Grandmother may have cause the miscarriage without having to actually say the words. The addition of the ellipses shows that the reader is not only hesitant to draw the conclusion because of his bond with his grandma, but that he is also taking a moment to collect his thoughts. The the reader, the narrators pause indicates a silent moment of consideration. This consideration makes it apparent that Reed is still drawing conclusions as he collects the evidence in