Family Ties

Family Ties Summary | Detailed Summary

"Family Ties" is Clarice Lispector's short story of family dynamics and the ties which simultaneously draw together and bind too tight. The main characters in the story are Catherine, a thirty-two-year old woman, and her mother Severina. Catherine's husband Tony and their child are the only other characters.

Catherine accompanies her mother in a taxi on the way to the train station. Severina's two-week visit with her daughter and her family has come to an end, and the awkward mannerisms of the two women make it obvious that the visit has been a strained one. In order to make conversation, Severina repeatedly checks her two suitcases and wonders if she has forgotten anything. Catherine answers that Severina has not forgotten anything.

Catherine recalls the departure scene between Severina and Tony, who has found it difficult to have his mother-in-law in his home for two weeks. Now that the moment has arrived for Severina to leave, both mother-in-law and son-in-law show earnest consideration for the other's health and overall appreciation for the time spent during the past two weeks. Tony is grateful for a cold that allows him to cough instead of answering when Severina declares her feelings for him.

Catherine is jolted back to the present by Severina's statement that Catherine's child is too thin and highly-strung. Catherine validates her mother's statement in order to avoid any discussion or arguments about her child. Severina wonders aloud once more if she has forgotten anything, and the taxi brakes suddenly throwing the suitcases into disarray and propelling mother and daughter against each other in the seat. Handbags and suitcases are quickly righted, and the women awkwardly look at each other, realizing that it has been many years since they have come in physical contact.

Catherine mind is thrown back to the time when she was a girl. She remembers that she was always closer to her father, never embracing or kissing her mother. This incident in the taxi just exaggerates the lack of closeness between mother and daughter, and both women are anxious to reach the train station.

Once more, Severina wonders if she has forgotten anything, and this time, Catherine does not answer. Catherine returns Severina's gloves, which had fallen to the floor, and the two women do not interact again until Severina's luggage has been loaded onto the train, when they share a goodbye kiss.

Severina's discomfort at not knowing what else to say expresses itself in the repeated adjustment of a new hat she is wearing. It is only when the train begins to move that Severina and Catherine look longingly at each other. Once more, Severina voices her hope that she has not forgotten anything, and Catherine yearns for something more endearing or of more substance. The train pulls away, and Catherine can only wave.

Catherine regains her composure and walks at her normal brisk pace, something she has not been able to do with her mother the past two weeks. Aware that she is still an attractive woman, Catherine walks from the station back to her apartment, well aware of the male attention she receives along the way. Catherine wants to provide the impression that she is a secure woman who embraces life and knows exactly what it is that she wants.

Returning to the apartment, Catherine greets her husband, who is glad to have privacy restored to their home, especially today, because he spends each Saturday in quiet reflection. Catherine looks in on their child, who is playing with a wet towel, and she engages in the game with him. Suddenly the boy, who is delayed in his learning and speech, says the word "Mummy" in a way he has never done before.

Catherine finds the situation to be funny and laughs in a wheezing style that prompts the boy to call her ugly. Although far from an ideal form of communication, Catherine is encouraged by her son's word and feels the desperate need to strengthen the tenuous bond. Catherine whisks her son out of the apartment with just a quick statement to Tony that that she and the boy are going out for awhile.

In spite of Tony's need for solitude on Saturdays, he feels somehow abandoned and alienated from his wife and son in a way he cannot explain. Tony watches the two from the apartment window, and he senses a fear that Catherine might impart something to the child that will end his innocence. Soon it occurs to Tony that he fears Catherine will transmit a sense of imprisonment to the boy.

Tony can project years into the future, when his own son will stand at this window burdened with the obligations of attending his parents. In spite of the comfortable life Tony's career as an engineer has provided, he knows that he will never be able to give Catherine what she really needs or wants. Now, the boy will be able to do what he cannot.

Tony is helpless to alter the situation and turns his thoughts to Catherine's return and the idea that they may go to the cinema after dinner. After that, this pivotal day will be over and crash into pieces, as the waves do on the rocks of Arpoador.