The Optimist's Daughter

Peace descends. Laurel is outside in the garden. There are birds everywhere. Mrs. Tennyson and three other elderly ladies are with her. They all express relief that Fay is gone. They talk about how bad they feel that Laurel’s father married Fay. They hope she doesn’t stay long in Mount Salus. The gossip goes around and around as they talk about how Fay did nothing but sit around and eat, and whenever she and the Judge left town, they didn’t make the bed. They agree that Judge McKelva doted on her, but Mrs. Tennyson, confused as to why he’d marry her, says, “A man can feel compunction for a child like Fay and still not have to carry it that far” (107). They tell Laurel that on Sundays when Missouri wasn’t there to cook and clean for them, Fay and the Judge ate at the Iona Hotel. Laurel listens to them and to the song of a mockingbird but refuses to participate in the gossip.

When they discuss the viewing and funeral, they are all perplexed at how troubling it was. They blame Major Bullock and Dr. Bolt, whose sermon was less than stellar, and they also blame the fact that the Chisoms are Baptists.