Plus, there simply wasn't the time for her to "sift, to weigh, to estimate, to total- everything that has happened and perhaps is responsible in some way, shape or form for her daughters current "condition-.
Emily's mother, ironically, begins to do exactly what she said she had no time to do. She begins to explain how Emily's father left them both and she had to work all the time and didn't get to spend much time with her daughter, who was often with relatives of either her mother or father, and sometimes in Child Care. For the first six years of Emily's life, things were like this. One point that I find interesting, that the author simply doesn't explore, however, only mentions, is the other children and Emily's stepfather, Bill. The author passively mentions "Bill- who I assume to be her new husband, who is mentioned in only one other sentence. But what truly perplexes me is why, in the midst of the depression and while having such turbulence rearing Emily, would she have four other children? Also, where is the step-father? There is no male presence in this story at all, no evidence of his contribution to the economic situation of the family. There really is no evidence of a family just a married single mother struggling to raise four kids by herself. But I digress.
The mother continues describing Emily's detrimental upbringing up until recent events that brought Emily into the spotlight of her peers and teachers. Through her earlier childhood, Emily's mother noticed a rare talent Emily had for comedy, and her mother mentioned once that she should do something like that in the school amateur show. Emily stupefied the audience with her performance and was asked to perform at other high schools, colleges, city and state-wide fairs. With this, she became somebody and broke free of her imprisoning anonymity. .
Emily's performance led to the curiosity of a teacher who got in touch with the mother which led to this entire train of thought.