Graveyard Day by Bobbie Ann Mason
"Graveyard Day" by Bobbie Ann Mason explores the complexities of relationships, personal growth, and the significance of family ties through the character of Waldeen. Recently divorced from her impulsive husband Joe Murdock, Waldeen is hesitant to commit to another relationship despite the affection she feels for Joe McClain, who has proposed to her. Throughout the narrative, Waldeen grapples with her past and her fears regarding the stability of her new relationship, especially concerning her daughter Holly and the specter of her former marriage.
The story centers around McClain's ritual of tending to his family grave plot, which serves as a poignant backdrop for the evolving dynamics in Waldeen's life. While initially feeling as though she is merely playing at family life, Waldeen's transformative experience during a picnic on McClain's "graveyard day" reveals her understanding of the deeper bonds of family and belonging. The contrast between McClain's reverence for family and Murdock's recklessness highlights Waldeen's internal struggle.
Ultimately, the narrative culminates in Waldeen's moment of playfulness at the cemetery, symbolizing her readiness to embrace change and her possibility of a new beginning with McClain. This pivotal moment suggests a shift towards a more secure future, reflecting themes of resilience and the desire for lasting connections. "Graveyard Day" offers insightful commentary on the challenges of moving forward while honoring the past, making it a compelling exploration of contemporary domestic life.
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Graveyard Day by Bobbie Ann Mason
First published: 1982
Type of plot: Domestic realism
Time of work: A late spring around 1980
Locale: Western Kentucky
Principal Characters:
Waldeen , the protagonist, a young, recently divorced motherHolly , her ten-year-old daughterJoe McClain , her thirty-year-old suitor, a Kentucky construction workerJoe Murdock , her former husband, a construction worker now living in ArizonaBetty Mathis , her best friendC. W. Redmon , Betty's live-in companion and Joe McClain's coworker
The Story
For less than a year Waldeen has been divorced from Joe Murdock, a wild and irresponsible construction worker whom she married when she was too young to choose wisely. Another construction worker named Joe McClain has now proposed to her, but she does not yet feel ready to marry again. She cannot forget about the first Joe, the failure of her marriage, or her former husband's continuing need for adventure. Although she feels love for Joe McClain, she distrusts her emotions and worries about the future—including the danger of losing her daughter Holly to her former husband.
Waldeen feels that she is only playing family when she, Holly, and Joe McClain eat together, watch television, play cards, and spend weekends at each other's houses. In truth, she believes that family is permanent and its membership cannot change—even though it has. Joe McClain brings Waldeen and Holly food and gifts almost every day, he cuts Waldeen's hair for her, and he tends to his family plot on his "graveyard day" each spring and fall. Although he seems to be a caring person, Waldeen fears that he may become irresponsible like her former husband, Joe Murdock. She tells McClain that she needs time to think about his marriage proposal. She resists marriage as has her best friend, Betty Mathis, who has told her live-in companion, C. W. Redmon, that she does not want to have his child—the condition that he has placed on their getting married.
Waldeen plans a picnic for McClain's "graveyard day" at the cemetery, inviting Betty and C. W. to join her, Holly, and Joe. She does this over McClain's protests that the day will involve much hard work because he takes his responsibility of tending the graves of his relatives quite seriously.
McClain's graveyard day begins poorly when Waldeen oversleeps after having nightmares about her former husband, leaving her with no time in which to prepare food for the picnic. Later at the cemetery, Waldeen drinks beer and eats fried chicken that she has bought on their way there and watches McClain work. He lovingly plants geraniums, washes his grandparents' gravestones, rakes leaves, and toasts his great-great-grandfather, who died in the Civil War. Waldeen hears him tell C. W. that he looks forward to one day being buried in the family plot alongside his ancestors, where he belongs.
McClain's remark makes Waldeen understand how different he is from her former husband. Realizing that his reverence for family is similar to her own, she senses that if she marries him, she too will end her days in the family plot that Joe is tending, with her headstone next to his—a great contrast to the several states and hundreds of miles that separate her from Joe Murdock.
Waldeen springs up and jumps into the pile of leaves that C. W. and Joe have so carefully raked, scattering them. As her daughter, Joe, Betty, and C. W. surround her in a disapproving circle, Waldeen's sudden playfulness signals that her anxiety and fears have ended. She now has a new sense of security that will allow her to make important changes in her life. Her leap into the leaf pile suggests that she is ready to move on with her life by marrying Joe McClain.
Bibliography
Brinkmeyer, Robert H., Jr. "Finding One's History: Bobbie Ann Mason and Contemporary Southern Literature." Southern Literary Journal 19 (Spring, 1987): 22-33.
Flora, Joseph M. "Bobbie Ann Mason." In Contemporary Fiction Writers of the South, edited by Joseph M. Flora and Robert Bain. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1993.
Price, Joanna. Understanding Bobbie Ann Mason. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2000.
Ryan, Maureen. "Stopping Places: Bobbie Ann Mason's Short Stories." In Women Writers of the Contemporary South, edited by Peggy Whitman Prenshaw. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1984.
Wilhelm, Albert. Bobbie Ann Mason: A Study of the Short Fiction. New York: Twayne, 1998