I know that if there is an afterlife, I’m going to have a very different kind of family.
This character's husband has been dead for years now, so she is alone to deal with all the difficulties. Just like many other women of her generation, she doesn’t know much about business, for she was raised to be a mother and a wife but not a bread-winner. Of course, her husband’s death is a hard blow. She tries hard to be good at what she does, but fails miserably; her own son – Lawrence – accuses her of being an alcoholic, stating that she is delusional. Her son’s harsh words cause her so much pain that she can’t even pretend that she is happy to have him back. “I know that if there is an afterlife, I’m going to have a very different kind of family,” the mother says. She is going to have “nothing but fabulously rich, witty, and enchanting children.”
What’s the matter? Don’t you like it here?
Though the narrator says that the Pommeroys are very close, it is not really so, for at least one Pommeroy would give up on his last name and family ties gladly and readily. The narrator couldn’t stand his younger brother’s gloomy face anymore, so he asks what the matter is. “Don’t you like it here?” he asks. He thought that Lawrence came because he missed them, because he realized that they were the family. “I’m going to sell my equity in the house to Chaddy,” says Lawrence and this is the truth no one wants to hear. It turns out to be that Lawrence doesn’t need them and it hurts.
Oh, what can you do with a man like this?
The whole family tried to please Lawrence. They invited him to join the games, they invited him to go to the shore and swim, they did everything they could but they failed. The main reason is that Lawrence has already made up his mind to say goodbye to them, he doesn’t want to be a part of the Pommeroy family anymore. “Oh, what can you with a man like this?” the protagonist asks. Lawrence can’t be changed and his family finally accepts this fact. It is not easy, but they have to let him go.
