The Member of the Wedding

After reading about half of "The Member of the Wedding", written by Carson McCullers, I realized just how complex Frankie's character was. The author does an amazing job of developing this girl, who seems like such a normal 12 year old, who in fact is this obsessive person. Frankie is completely bored with her life. Every day she sits at her table with John Henry and Berenice, her black maid, playing cards and drinking cold cups of lemonade. This does not nearly satisfy Frankie. She longs for an adventure, longs to get out of her home and go somewhere. She is not sure where- no one is quite sure what's on Frankie's mine, truthfully not even Frankie herself. But as soon as she hears about the upcoming marriage of her brother, suddenly it is as though Frankie herself was asked to be married. The author does an excellent job slowly developing and increasing this obsession with her brother's marriage. 

What begins as just excitement slowly turns into almost an addiction as the days come nearer and nearer to her brother's wedding. Frankie is so caught up in her own head, telling herself and convincing herself that she is indeed going to be a part of it. It is almost as though she believes they will have a triple marriage, with her being the third. Frankie is such a complex character, so it is hard to tell exactly how aware she is. She is a seemingly smart girl, but when it comes to this wedding, she acts as though she is the most clueless person. I would say she is self absorbed- but it's not in an obnoxious way. It's more oblivious-  oblivious of the fact that this wedding does not revolve around her. For example, Frankie "changes" her name to F. Jasmine so that her initials can match those of both her brother and his soon to be wife. Frankie also talks excessively about her idea of going on the honeymoon with the bride and groom. In the text she says, "I love the two of them so much. We'll go to every place together. It's like I've known it all my life, that I belong to be with them. I love the two of them so much." If you ask me, anyone who speaks about another couple getting married like this has to be obsessed, and possibly a little crazy. 


However, I do understand Frankie's motives for the behavior. I mean, she lives in a small town, doing the same, slow things every day. Frankie is just looking for a way out of her everyday life, and when the wedding comes along, she sees it as that way out. This is where the author does such a great job of building her obsession-- starting with just an interest and turning it into an addiction. Overall, Frankie being a 12 year old and having such a passionate feeling about something that doesn't involve her shows what an interesting character she is.  The book is beautifully written, and almost gets to the point where it is haunting how obsessive Frankie is with her brother's wedding.