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The Woman
Aunty Grace is the Woman’s aunt. Aunty Grace, who moved to England long ago after marrying an Englishman, has not seen her family in years and she is one of the only members of the Woman’s family whose photograph has ended up in the suitcase before her death. This symbolizes that, while Aunty Grace is still alive, she is dead to her family. Aunty Grace’s betrayal in moving away is a pain that the Woman feels palpably. When Aunty Grace comes home for Nana’s funeral, she doesn’t shed a tear during the entire month-long ritual mourning period. On the day she is to return to England, however, Aunty Grace asks the Woman to drive her to the cemetery before taking her to the airport. There, at her mother’s grave, Aunty Grace breaks down in grief and despair, scattering the contents of her suitcase onto the red earth surrounding the fresh grave. Aunty Grace’s story is brief, taking up only one scene of the play—yet the stunning, intense emotion behind her short visit is hugely important to the Woman’s story. Aunty Grace’s grief not only for her mother’s death but also for the life, the people, and the community she herself has left behind and abandoned is intense and overwhelming. Aunty Grace’s grief, like the Woman’s, does not move through the clear, sequential, prescribed stages—instead, it shows up in strange ways and at inopportune moments, consuming everything in its path.
Aunty Grace Quotes in The 7 Stages of Grieving
The The 7 Stages of Grieving quotes below are all either spoken by Aunty Grace or refer to Aunty Grace. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Scene 12: Aunty Grace
Quotes
I never saw her cry the whole time she was with us.
Dad said she was stuck-up and wasn’t really family. She married this Englishman after World War II. There was a photo of her on a ship waving with this white fella, his arm around her. For some reason she didn’t stay, which in my family is strange.
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I drive Aunty Grace out to the cemetery on our way to the airport. She doesn't have much luggage, there is plenty of room but no one from the family comes to see her off. I wait in the car while she goes out to the freshly turned soil of Nana’s grave. She is there for such a long time, I think we are going to be late. Finally she returns to the car, opens the back door and removes a suitcase. She opens it and proceeds to throw the contents all over the ground, everything. […] Crying, at last, crying.
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Get the entire The 7 Stages of Grieving LitChart as a printable PDF.
Aunty Grace Quotes in The 7 Stages of Grieving
The The 7 Stages of Grieving quotes below are all either spoken by Aunty Grace or refer to Aunty Grace. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Scene 12: Aunty Grace
Quotes
I never saw her cry the whole time she was with us.
Dad said she was stuck-up and wasn’t really family. She married this Englishman after World War II. There was a photo of her on a ship waving with this white fella, his arm around her. For some reason she didn’t stay, which in my family is strange.
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Explanation and Analysis:
I drive Aunty Grace out to the cemetery on our way to the airport. She doesn't have much luggage, there is plenty of room but no one from the family comes to see her off. I wait in the car while she goes out to the freshly turned soil of Nana’s grave. She is there for such a long time, I think we are going to be late. Finally she returns to the car, opens the back door and removes a suitcase. She opens it and proceeds to throw the contents all over the ground, everything. […] Crying, at last, crying.
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