Summary

Chapter 7. Joan recalls the recurring dreams she has about her mother: one, in which the bridge that she had to cross on her ways to Brownies collapses while she is in the middle of it, her mother on the other side watching, doing nothing. The second dream was Joan watching her mother put on makeup at her vanity. Joan saw her mother’s reflection in the mirror, and she had not one head but many, multiplying, like a monster. In the dream there was a man outside the door to visit Joan’s mother and Joan is excited and fearful that finally the man would see what Joan’s mother was really like.

Throughout the rest of this chapter, Joan continues to eat despite her mother. At home Joan does little else besides eat and watch TV. She generally stays out of the way of...