“Didn’t your mama ever tell you it was sinful to lie?”
Nineteen-year-old Kay meets a strange couple on a train in 'A Tree of Night.' As she begins to feel uncomfortable, Kay tells the couple a lie, saying that she must leave immediately. However, upon hearing this the eccentric lady grabs her wrist and says this to her. Overall, she is depicted as being confrontational and frightening and frequently transgresses boundaries such as this in the story.
“It's bad enough in life to do without something you want; but confound it, what gets my goat is not being able to give somebody something you want them to have.”
'A Christmas Memory' explores the happiness and sentimentality of the festive season, while also showing how it can be a time of struggle for many. Buddy’s family are incredibly poor and struggle to buy presents for the children. However, Buddy isn’t fazed by this and still enjoys Christmas. This is a quote said by Buddy's cousin, who says that she hates it when other people can't have what they want.
“I looked all over,” he said, “and there just ain't nobody there.”
Mrs. Miller’s neighbor offers to go into her apartment to confront Miriam. However, when he goes up he doesn’t see anybody there, leading us to believe that Miriam may be a ghost. This comes as a shock to Mrs. Miller and the neighbor’s partner, as if Miriam had left, they would have seen her.
“Then gradually, the harshness of it was replaced by the murmur of a silk dress…”
Mrs. Miller returns to her apartment after being told nobody is in there. However, she has a strange feeling when she enters and becomes aware of a “double sound: a bureau drawer opening and closing.” After this, she hears a silk dress, which is revealed to be Miriam.
“For several years, Mrs. Miller had lived alone in a pleasant apartment… in a remodeled brownstone near the East River. She was a widow.”
In the first couple of sentences, Capote introduces Mrs. Miller. We learn that she is a widow and is quite alone in the world, making her a good target for the ominous Miriam. Throughout the story, we are made aware of her isolation and loneliness.
