Rain Reign

“From our porch you can see our front yard and our driveway and our road, which is called Hud Road. Road has two homonyms—rowed and rode. On the other side (sighed) of the road is a little forest, and through the trees you can see the New York Thruway. The word see has a homonym—sea. But even better, sees has two homonyms—seas and seize.” 

This passage early in the book establishes one of the stylistic choices Martin makes in the novel—that of including the homophones of words in parentheses. Thus, in this quote, Martin not only relates contextual information that helps the reader understand Rose’s life, but she also suggests something about Rose herself. Rose’s statement that more homonyms are “even better” also reinforces the role of homonyms as a motif in the book.

“I’m in fifth grade at Hatford Elementary. There’s only one elementary school in Hatford, New York, and only one fifth-grade classroom in the school, and I’m in it. Most of my classmates are ten years old or about to turn eleven. I’m almost twelve because no one is sure what to do with me in school. I’ve stayed back for two semesters, which is a total of one year. (1/2 + 1/2=1).” 

The information given in this quote tells the reader about Rose’s setting in rural New York State. It’s implied that the school she attends is only able to provide limited resources for her as a student with autism, since there is only one classroom per grade. This point forms one of the emotional subtexts of the story as Weldon recognizes that Rose would benefit from further support and assistance with her disability while Wesley resists that idea.

“Homonyms can be surprising and fun, and that’s why I started a list of them. The list is very long. Right now it takes up four sheets of paper. The words are in alphabetical order. I try to leave space between the pairs and trios of homonyms so that I can add new ones to the list easily. But if the spaces have gotten used up and I’ve thought of another set of homonyms, then I have to rewrite the list from that point on. Sometimes this makes me cry because I have to write the words perfectly, without making any mistakes. If I make a mistake I have to start over.” 

As well as creating a way for her to understand and navigate the world, Rose’s adherence to rules (and her insistence that others follow them) can affect her negatively as well. This passage demonstrates that sometimes Rose pressures herself into an overly harsh adherence to the rules.