The Sweet Business

Here you can read an extract from our study guide:

The main character dislikes her mother-in-law and does not get along well with her. She feels restricted and frustrated by the mother-in-law’s routine and she resents her for feeding her children sweets against her will. 

However, she also feels guilty about her resentment. For instance, she feels “duty bound” to answer her mother-in-law’s endless stream of comments while they are driving, even though everyone else ignores her. This shows that she genuinely tries to be nice and have a good relationship with her mother-in-law. However, she does not have a place to start. The mother-in-law does not share much about herself and does not show emotion, so it is difficult for the main character to relate to her or find anything likeable or admirable in her. 

When the mother-in-law is going through a difficult time at the waterfall, the main character sympathizes with her more than anyone else in the family. While even the mother-in-law’s son leaves her behind without a second thought, the main character keeps looking back to check on her. Later she wonders if the mother-in-law would like to hear about their descent or about the “tin house”. All these thoughts highlight that the main character cares about her mother-in-law, despite their differences. [...]