Structure

Streep's Brothers on Three is organized into a prologue, four overarching sections, and an epilogue. Parts One through Four each contain a series of numbered and titled chapters. This structural approach acts as an accessible navigational tool for the reader.

The prologue, titled "I'll Be There," introduces the reader to the text's primary setting of Arlee, Montana, as well as to the Arlee community members whose stories Streep follows throughout Brothers on Three. The prologue begins with descriptions of Will Mesteth Jr.’s visit to see his great-grandmother Sophie Haynes in the Providence St. Patrick Hospital, and opens with the following lines: “The boy and the old woman let the silence gather. He was used to her talking with her hands and cracking jokes over French toast. Now she was quiet and still, a hospital gown hanging off her shoulders” (1). These lines assume a narrative-like tone, thus...