Laurel
Fay
PROTAGONIST
ANTAGONIST
Laurel Hand, the protagonist of the novel, lives in New York and has to travel to New Orleans to help him with recovery after a detached retina surgery. After Judge McKelva's surgery, his age and surgical trauma lead to an unexpected death. Soon after his death, there is an uprising between Fay, Judge McKelva's second wife, and Laurel over his possession of property and his legacy. Throughout the novel, the conflict between Fay and Laurel worsens and creates an interesting plot ("Introduction").
Fay is a cruel and narcissistic woman throughout the book. She is very selfish and only cares about herself. Even when her own husband is in the hospital, lying on his death bed, she only thinks of herself. After her husband's death, she is rude to all of Judge's family members. Fay disgracefully turns down every act of kindness from close friends of the McKelva's and even turns down her family when they come all the way from Texas (Welty 2-105).
Even though Laurel was currently living in Chicago, she quickly finds her "southern" hospitality and kind, loving character as soon as she makes her way to Mississippi, her home state. Laurel cares and loves her father down to his last breath and accepts all mourners who come to her home to visit her after her father's death (Welty 1-10).
After Laurel's father's funeral, she stays in Mississippi to find herself once again before she heads back to Chicago.
Unlike Laurel, Fay flees her husband's state of Mississippi and goes back to the state of Texas.
After Fay left Mississippi to go back to Texas, Laurel decides to stay in her home town of Mount Salus to sit back and think about her life. She has now lost both her mother and father, and also her husband; she is surrounded by death. Laurel swims in her complex emotions surrounding her loss of loved ones and the waves of memories she has of them (110).
Unlike the kind, light-hearted, caring, and intelligent southener, Laurel, Fay is creud and she creates tension between family members that are trying to show their sympathy. Her immature attitude and hatred towards hospitality makes it obvious that she is not from a "southern" state (Welty).
Judge McKelva's Patient Chart
Date: 07/25/1969
Name: Judge McKelva
Patient ID: 462856294
DOB: 11/3/1897
Height: 6' 2"
Weight: 274 lbs.
Allergies: N/A
Medications: a gel eye drop; OTC; lack of oxygen in eye will create dryness; needs gel eye drop for lubrication prior to surgery ("Retinal").
Medical History: Judge McKelva was married to his first wife, Laurel's mother, who passed away at a young age due to an eye illness as well. McKelva then married his second wife who was younger than his daughter, Laurel. McKelva told his surgeon, Dr. Courtland that he is sure he will survive the surgery to fix his retina because he has survived many tragic events throughout his life. McKelva is an unpatient person, therefore staying still, in a dark room, and not moving his eye much will be a struggle for him after his surgery during recovery (Welty).
Vitals:
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BP: 134/97
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Pulse: 89
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Temperature: 98.2
Chief Complaints:
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Floaters in field of vision: "But I'm ready to believe it's something wrong with my eyes (4)." "And I saw the fig tree," said Judge McKelva. "Giving off flashes from those old bird-frighteners Beck saw fit to tie on it years back (4)!"
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Dry eyes
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"Dimness (6)."
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Appears to be a dark shield/shadow over field of vision
Procedure: Judge McKelva will undergo a high-risk surgery performed by Dr. Courtland. Given the time period, there is not the technology for a smooth, easy surgery to fix McKelva's detached retina. Therefore, the chances of his eye being fixed and having clear vision is slim to none; chances are McKelva will probably lose his vision for good. Having a detached retina is an emergency situation and actions need to be taken immediately to save a person's vision, and unfortunately this was not the case. During surgery, a gas will be inserted in his eye and hopefully the tear will heal via this bubble of air (4-8).
Recovery: While McKelva is in the hospital recovering from his surgery, Laurel and Fay have it out for one another. Laurel traveled all the way back to Mississippi to take care of her father during this tough time and while she is there Fay is nothing but evil towards her and McKelva. Fay's selfish personality prevents McKelva from getting the care he needs in order to recover because he has to do things he's not supposed to in order to make his wife, Fay, happy. After a few weeks, McKelva is exhausted by the efforts and desperate measures taken to please his wife. Laurel sits down at her father's beside, reads him Dickens, and passes away due to unsuccessful recovery because of his age (22-49).
Site: Davis Mount Salus Vision Center
Prescriber: Dr. Courtland
Phone #: (601)924-5395
Fax: (601)924-9302
Word Count: 775