From: Kathleen Horning <horning>
Date: Fri, 14 Jul 1995 17:44:00 -600

I've been thinking of Ginny's "Partridge in a Pear Tree" reference as it concerns the homonym pear/pair. I started thinking about pairs in the book and there are loads of them! First you have the most basic one: the two stories being told simultaneously. Then you have the two girls (Sal and Phoebe); the two mothers who left; the two babies who were lost (one miscarried, one put up for adoption); not to mention the two moccasins and the two moons. There may be others I'd see if I were to read the book again looking for them. As for how this all relates to Mrs. Partridge, well, she's the one character who
"sees" everything (understands the pairs). She recognizes Phoebe's brother right away and because she's Mrs. Cadaver's mother, she'd know the whole story about Sal's mother. So in that contect
"partridge in a 'pair' tree makes perfect sense to me.
Received on Fri 14 Jul 1995 06:44:00 PM CDT