A Small Good Thing

Thirty-three-year-old Ann Weiss is the first character that Carver introduces, as she orders a birthday cake for her son, Scotty. An upper middle-class mother, she has the time and money to plan a party for her son and bridles at the baker’s lack of deference to her. However, the story otherwise reveals little of what excites her, what her passions might be, and whether she has hopes or dreams beyond Scotty’s recovery.

Ann senses that her son is in worse condition than the doctor is letting on. However, she remains deferential to the men in the room—her husband and Dr. Francis. The story strikingly reveals something about her inner life after she encounters the Black family awaiting news of their son, Franklin. Learning of their predicament, “[s]he had an urge to talk more with these people who were in the same kind of waiting she was in. She was afraid, and they were afraid. They had that in common […] Yet she didn’t know how to begin” (391). Here, Ann seems stilted and perhaps trapped by social conventions, as class and race create a barrier between her and communication. It’s noteworthy, though, that the image of the younger Black woman in the waiting room, perhaps Franklin’s sister, haunts Ann.