Age

You are young and innocent. You have no idea what’s going on in the world right now getting ready for being older. As you enter your young adult years you think that getting older will greatly diminish your mind, body, and spirit. We try to run from an immanent attack. Age, the thing most people fear, is the best thing that can ever come upon our lowly souls in such an insignificant role in this universe.
Francie realizes that she has no control over her life when Johnny, her father dies. She sees he did nothing wrong nor did she, her brother or her mother. As she is faced with all of these trials and tribulations she sees that God has plans for everybody and no two are the same. As a person seeing many of these tragedies unfold she realizes life is not perfect ever for anyone. Knowing this along with her father’s death shoves her into depression.

Her teacher, Miss Gardner, makes it no better saying that her compositions are “…’little sordid stories.’ Sordid... Sordid: Filthy. Filthy? She thought of her father wearing a fresh dicky and collar every day of his life and shining his worn shoes as often as twice a day. Dirty. Papa had his own mug at the barber shop... Gross. Never! Papa was a dancer. He was slender and quick. His body wasn’t gross. And mean and low. She remembered a hundred and one little tendernesses and acts of thoughtfulness on the part of her father. She remembered how everyone had loved him so..." Francie had written stories about her father’s life so when Miss Gardner called her stories sordid Francie broke under the burden of her father’s death that she had been carrying aging her at such an accelerated rate that she was no longer a child at her mere fourteen years but a woman.
Francie was trying to hold onto what was left of her childhood. One that so many of us would find revolting she thought was absolutely beautiful. Although she found her true place in life, she must remember that she has no control over her life which is so insignificant.