Chapter 6: Plot

Exercise: Chapter 32
From Situation to Plot

Character: a mother with Parkinson’s Disease who lives on her own, but whose children want her to move into an assisted living facility.


Situation #1: Mother and two adult children get in a car accident. One of the children was driving. The accident was the child’s fault. The mother is hurt and is forced to move into a rehab facility, with a plan to move into assisted living afterward. All of this is because of the accident, not because of the Parkinson’s.

Reactions #1: Mother is angry at and resentful toward the child for his mistake and consequential accident. Mother feels self-righteous because she knew she would not have ever had to go into assisted living if it were up to her, but the accident has forced her into it. Mother blames child for having to move into rehab/assisted living. Child thinks that mother would have ended up in assisted living anyway and takes no responsibility for the premature move. Other siblings side with child. Mother feels abandoned at assisted living and starts to believe the accident was a conspiracy. The more the siblings defend the child, the more “evidence” the mother collects against them. Mother becomes more and more withdrawn and depressed as her obsession to prove her conspiracy theory grows.


Situation #2: One of the children is diagnosed with Parkinson’s, as well.

Reactions #2: The mother is defensive: she thinks blame is being placed on her for passing the Parkinson’s through biology, even though no one has accused her of this. As the children convince her that no one is blaming her, the mother becomes more confident and takes on the role of “expert” because she has had the disease longer. The mother feels a new connection with the child because they share this diagnosis, but the child wants nothing to do with this type of “connection.” The mother takes the child’s defiance as not wanting to be anything like her, while the child can’t understand how the mother can think of this as something to bond over. The child eventually moves to another city, rather than live the life she sees her mother living.


Situation #3: The children hire a painter to paint the interior of the house so the mother won’t get hurt doing it herself. The painter turns out to have some marital and financial problems and is living in his car.

Reactions #3: The mother is overly concerned with the painter’s life. She feels incredibly sorry for him. She enjoys having someone around her whom she considers to be “worse off” than herself. Because the children have been worried bout her living alone, she offers to rent her spare bedroom to the painter in order to have someone around at night to help her in case of an emergency. While she says he is there to take care of her, it is obvious to everyone else that she is taking care of him. Clashes occur over the possibility of her being taken advantage of and of the painter’s character and motives. More details about the painter emerge, a few “close calls” occur, and the mother finally tells the painter to move out. After some delay, interpreted differently between the children and the mother, the painter moves out. Since nothing horrible has happened, the mother feels vindicated, while the children feel this is proof the mother has lost her ability to make logical decisions.