Week Two: Character Description

            In the fifty pages of the novel The Flowers, Sylvia seems more like a slave or an animal in a zoo. She seems to be stuck at home for most of her time even when she is done with the tasks the Cloyd gave her. Her tasks are very different from the ones she used to have in her life before she met Cloyd. Also some tasks that Sylvia had to do before such as going to work and hang out with friends disappeared.  Many of the tasks she never done or had very little experience with, such as cooking. Bud said “Here I thought you only married her for the looks” (54). Knowing little, Cloyd and Bud think that Sylvia actually makes Mexican food, maybe because she actually is Mexican, and in their eyes all Mexicans can make Mexican food; however the truth is that she actually makes terrible food. What Bud and Cloyd don’t know is that Sylvia buys pre-made food to satisfy Cloyd’s needs.

When she has no tasks, she seems to be wandering around the house thinking what to do. Every time I would read a passage about her floating around or an awkward moment such as “The silence became a fog. There’s nothing ever good on, she said finally” (74). The only time I could think of having to talk about television is when someone is extremely bored. If I would find myself flipping through channels trying to find something to watch is usually because there is nothing better to do. Most likely Sylvia experienced the same problem as I mentioned. There were a good few passages that she would mention that she’s bored. Sonny mentioned “The phone was next to the beer bottle, the cord across the rug of the living room. She’d had one put in so she could have her own phone and number and then she got the long cord so she could move with it” (72). She surrounded herself with tasks that could keep her occupied while being trapped in the house. She had to be sitting and watching the television for a very long time. In fact when Sonny walked into the house, his mom seemed to be sleeping with the television on.