How to Pronounce Knife
Who is the main character in the short-story, Randy Travis?
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In "Randy Travis," an unnamed narrator reflects on her childhood and the loneliness and depression her mother felt as a Lao immigrant in an unfamiliar culture with few close connections. The narrator's mother developed an obsession with Randy Travis, seeming to project all of her hopes for a better life onto the country singer. The narrator's father was kind and caring to his wife, even taking her to a Randy Travis concert, but he was a practical man entirely lacking in the romantic spirit the narrator's mother saw in Randy Travis. (The narrator notes that her father gave her mother cash on her birthday - "Not even a birthday card or plans for a night out" (47).) The mother ultimately tired of the country singer but developed a gambling addiction soon after. She died in a casino parking lot. The narrator recalls feeling "relief for her then" (53) because she was no longer suffering.
Randy Travis