Summary

This very short story consists of an unnamed speaker complaining that no one observes the formalities anymore. The instance that sets the speaker off is that she was not invited to a child’s Christening. These formalities that she is complaining about consist of eating with mouths open, interrupting others, inviting people to events, and being late. As the story progresses, it is implied that the real reason the woman is upset is that all of the potential godmothers were invited to the Christening, but she was not. She proclaims that she would make the child’s future “tidy and polite.” She ends by musing that they probably would have invited her to the funeral.

Analysis

At the beginning of this story, the reader is given a red herring regarding the motivations of the speaker. The speaker makes it seem like she...