During the initial introduction of the reading, we are provided with a quick illustration of the mother character, Mrs. Bryson, who is the mother of the narrator, Bill. We are given a description that leads to the premise that she is a bumbling, disorganized buffoon floundering about each day to recklessly undertake motherly duties in the wake of various other impending responsibilities. Nonetheless, our narrator expresses no form of contention as a result of her disorganized methods, and in fact, indicates that despite her floundering she still manages to keep things together and eventually accomplish what she sets out to do – no matter how terribly done it may be.
We are given some indirect characterization of Mrs. Bryson through the Bill’s descriptive account of her methods for running the house, or lack thereof. Bill summarizes her punctuality as always late, which eventually transpires into everything that she does, especially when it comes to dinner. Apparently every evening when meal time approaches, things go beyond the brink of chaos, where Mrs. Bryson somehow manages to throw together a dinner from the pathetic offerings unpleasantly always at her disposal. Mrs. Bryson’s cooking skills are described by Bill as less than impressive, and always managing to be served burnt. Bill indicates that her burned cooking is so common that it has helped the kitchen to earn their label of the “burns unit.”
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"The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid".
Further indirect characterization for Mrs. Bryson is developed as we come to understand that both she and her husband, Bill’s father, are products of the Great Depression, which has ultimately constructed their frugal nature where they tend to save everything, and throw out nothing. From Bill’s calm expression in the narration, we are able to build a distinguishing picture of Mrs. Bryson that may not be very complimentary. However, some of the direct characterization of her character lessens the degree of her imperfectness and creates a sort of ambiguously nurturing intention.
Direct characterization of Mrs. Bryson helps us to develop a full profile that composes her as one of the main characters in the reading, as well as a key influence to Bill’s explanation of his childhood. Mrs. Bryson is always apologetic when she goofs up the dinner by overcooking it. From this we get a sense that she knows she is not very good at preparing dinner, but remains adamantly intent to serve. Considering Mrs. Bryson’s constant embarkment on the endless household duties, while preparing dinner at the same time, is also a direct indication of her commitment to the home, and ultimately her family.
The setting for which we begin to develop Mrs. Byron’s character is in 1950’s midwest Iowa. This is undoubtedly a fairly conservative area in a time where conservatism was common. In Mrs. Byron’s work, and in her doings at home, we can see that much of what she does and how she goes about everything stands as an important impactful influence over Bill as his story progresses. Undoubtedly, her demeanor and behavior sets a precedence for how Bill is able to identify the differences of his family as compared to others. For example, in the magazines that Mrs. Byron purchases for her work, Bill takes a keen liking to reading and identifying the subtle and blatant differences of the women and housewives in the magazines to that of his mother. Bill is also very aware of the relationship between his two parents. As he puts it, “theirs truly was a marriage made in heaven.” All of these aspects help to develop Bill through the progression of the story, and enlightens us as to the type of character his mother is, both in Bill’s perception and general viewpoint. Mrs. Bryson, though loving and with good intention, is somewhat of a frugal flake, bumbling behind through the daily minutia that somewhat sloppily constructs her family unit in 1950’s Iowa.
