Character Analysis of the Short Story Mrs. Turner Cutting the Grass by Essay

Character Analysis of the Short Story Mrs. Turner Cutting the Grass by Carol Shields - Essay Example As the past history of Mrs. Turner unfolds, the reader is left gasping at the many dalliances and infedities of this ordinary woman. Indeed, this story is a testimony to the belief that behind simple facades lie some of the most interesting lives. The story begins simply enough with Mrs. Turner going through a routine task and the reader is led to believe that she is going to be confronted with a neighborly fight, but soon we find ourselves in the youth of Mrs. Turner. Carol Shields, with a quick turn of phrase talks of the peccadilloes of Mrs. Turner youth, her subsequent fleeing to New York, her abandonment of her child, her return to her home town and the final settling down into domesticity. B. Carelessness was indeed one of Mrs. Turner’s unusual traits. This is very apparent when we see her mowing the lawn. The grass flies around her but she does not use a catcher, to the dismay of the Saschers, her next door neighbor. Her extensive use of pesticides to control the weeds is another instance of carelessness she exhibits. C. Again, we see Mrs. Turner’s careless and casual attitude which results in her pregnancy which she carried so far as to even abandon her little baby, unmindful of what would happen to it. Her physical appearance is also hastily put together as evinced from the following phrases that go to describe this attitude saying she had an â€Å"ancient pair of shorts†, paired with a halter top. She has on her feet a pair of â€Å"crepe-soled sandals† and covers her head with her dead husband’s golf cap. D. This trait of carelessness of Mrs. Turner gets her often into trouble and makes her a person of contempt and disgust to all those around her. Her pregnancy was the result of a careless dalliance, which ultimately made her leave New York because she found that she could not take care of a baby by herself. E. Mrs. Turner was a woman not used to doing things for others and in