the stand: chapters 11 & 12

meanwhile, chapter 11 finds us back in new york city, and larry underwood has made his way across town to the chemical bank building where his mom is head housekeeper. they have a long drawn out conversation during which alice underwood tells larry that she's proud of him for doing something with the talent that she always knew he had, even if she doesnt like his style of music. he's still a taker, she says, but not a bad guy. he tells her he loves her and runs off to see a movie (on her dime, at her insistence). the movie is a popular one, starring freddie kruger, with a packed house, including some guy in the back with a very persistant cough.

i'm glad larry got to see a bit of emotion from his mother. i think he has seen her as a hardened woman throughout the years, but seeing the flash of tears in her eyes made larry realize that she is still a woman and still his mother and she does love him. it's just hard for her to express it. in a lot of ways i can compare her to carla goldsmith, frannie's mother. they both lost someone they loved earlier than they should have and it turned them hard inside.


let's morph back to ogunquit, maine, for chapter 12. frannie is waiting in the museum (aka, her mother's parlor) to break the baby bump news. frannie's parents do indeed live together but the parlor is unequivocally her mother's. it's full of her mother's heirlooms: a handmade grandfather clock passed down for umpteenth generations, her mother's area rug, a genealogy scrapbook of her own heritage that she compiled herself. roses entombed forever under glass cases and various other decorations adorn this sacred room of tea parties and serious conversation. no traces of peter goldsmith are to be found. this is carla's room only and when you enter this room, you live by carla's standards. frannie has no good memories of the parlor and in fact she hates the room. she would rather be in her father's work room, where nothing but good memories abide. peter's work room holds an almost wonderland-like existence in frannie's mind, and she'd give anything to be a little girl there now. but alas, she is now an adult and most certainly pregnant and waiting to face her mother's wrath.

i love the way king tells the story of carla's parlor. he paints a picture of a time all but gone, and since he wrote the book originally in the 70s, this scenario fits then perfectly. i'm sure most of it would still hold up in the 90s when the book was re-released because there are still people out there who would shudder at the thought of their daughter becoming pregnant out of wedlock, and not for religious or ethical reasons. all carla is worried about is her image to her friends and her community. she could care less about frannie's feelings or well-being. i think also that deep down inside carla doesnt want to lose frannie the way she lost fred and frannie being pregnant is a sure sign of being grown up, and actually having the child is proof that frannie is no longer a child herself. but no matter what frannie does, it isnt going to be good enough to suit carla, because carla's baby (fred) is gone and frannie will never live up to what carla wants.

so frannie spills the beans and carla goes off the deep end; she threatens to cut frannie off financially and accuses frannie of behaving like "a bitch in heat." peter finally steps in and puts his foot (and the pimp hand) down, and it's about time. he should have done it years ago, in my opinion. carla basically reaches the hysteria stage after peter has his say and eventually she retires to her bedroom. the chapter ends with peter and frannie comforting each other in the parlor.

i feel bad for frannie at this point, even though she's not a character that i like very much, yet. i also feel bad for carla for the simple fact that she's alienating her daughter in return for a social life and the way things "should be." carla has woven herself into a cocoon of selfishness and there's not much time for making amends.