Miriam Book Report

            In the short story, "Miriam," written by Truman Capote, an old widowed women encounters a young girl while waiting in line for a play. They both have the same, rare, name, Miriam. The young girl later visits Mrs. Miller and badgers her. This makes Mrs. Millar very upset. Miriam is very persistent and invites herself to live with Mrs. Miller. Based on the text, I have concluded that Miriam is a ghost.
             One reason Miriam is a ghost is how the author introduced us to her in the story. The text first describes Miriam appearance as pale, silver-white long, straight, hair, thin, and fragilely constructed with a certain elegance to her. She is at a theater, all alone, at a young age and her parents are not present. She wants to get into the play and asks Mrs. Miller to buy her ticket for her because the workers wouldn"t let her in. We later find out that she has a large vocabulary and seems a bit rude. She also doesn't stay with Mrs. Miller but disappears in the theater to find a good seat. .
             Another reason she is a ghost is because of her character. She shows up at Mrs. Miller home late into the night. Mrs. Miller soon points out that her name is not listed in the phone book and is curious how Miriam knows her address. When she asks Miriam how she got her address Miriam ignores her and changes the subject. She also pays no attention to Mrs. Miller when she mentions Miriam's mother but merely changes the subject. She is very pushy and invites herself into Mrs. Miller's apartment. She then proceeds to badger Mrs. Miller. She comments on how she doesn't like Mrs. Miller's fake flower and later intentionally breaks the vase and steps on the flower. She also wakes up the canary to hear it sing after Mrs. Miller told her not too. While Mrs. Miller is busy fulfilling Miriam's request of getting her food, she finds her in her room where Miriam demands for Mrs. Miller's cameo that she got from her husband. She also knows that Mrs.