Jennifer Green's "sisters"

Jennifer Green's short story "Sisters" from 2006 is about two sisters and their mother. The sisters, Rachel and Flora, have a strained relationship, which we hear about through an episode on the mother's birthday. The episode ends with the family splitting up, because of the problems the relationships has caused.

In the story we meet the sisters Flora and Rachel and their mother. Rachel is a young girl living with her sister and her mother. She is slim and according to her sister she is also tall, brave and clever. She also has got a temper, especially towards her sister Flora. Rachel resent Flora and even locks her room to keep her out. At some point Rachel knows that she is better than her sister and that she is jealous, and she loves it. In the end of the story she has enough. Flora stealing her dress gives it the finishing touch. The dress means too much for her to just let it go and it ends with her moving out to get away.

Flora is Rachel's sister. She lives with Rachel and their mother. She has blond hair and has a lack of self-confidence. She is jealous of Rachel and wants to be tall, clever and brave like her. The lack of self-confidence can come from a life of being second. Rachel has been first and best and Flora has been second. Flora steels Rachel's dress to be just like Rachel. "As Flora walked through the hot city she felt airy and delighted." When Flora wears the dress she feels confidence and beautiful. She gets her Italian friend Alberto's attention and everything is perfect, until she spill a drink on the dress and ruins it.

The mother's reaction to discovering that Flora stole the dress indicates that it isn't the first time she steals. They mother says: "Every thing is ruined. You are a thief." It tells us that this isn't a new problem to the mother, and that it most likely has happened before. By saying that everything is ruined, the mother means that she is never going to get the perfect calm family life she wants so badly. Flora harms Rachel by stealing her dress and the mother takes Rachel's side. It could indicate that Rachel is her favourite daughter and that Flora is second and always get blamed.

We don't know the mother's name, but we know that she works as a bereavement counsellor. The story takes place on her fortieth birthday. She wanted a quiet day were she could relax, she wanted to feel loved and she wanted her daughters to make an effort. She wants life to be calm, like a flat sea with no sudden breezes. She likes emotions to be explored in safe rooms, with a clock. Therefor is she both mad and disappointed in her daughters' behaviour at the restaurant.

"She wanted the meal to be over. She wanted her daughters to make an effort." She is tired of dealing with her children. She wants it to be over. This tells us that this is a common incident, and that