A Visit to Grandmother

“Chig knew something was wrong the instant his father kissed her. He had always known his father to be the warmest of men, a man so kind that when people ventured timidly into his office, it took only a few words from him to make them relax, and even laugh. Doctor Charles Dunford cared about people.”

Foreshadowing marks the very first paragraph of the story, hinting at the upcoming conflict. Chig’s observation that something is wrong is a subtle but significant detail that anticipates Charles’s later confrontation with his mother and contrasts his usual warmth with his detachment while in his mother’s presence. This moment also characterizes Charles as a generally positive person and shows that Chig and Charles have a comfortable and close relationship.

“Chig had a suspicion now that the reunion had been only an excuse to drive south, that his father had been heading to this house all the time.”

The third-person limited perspective allows the reader to see through Chig’s eyes and gain insight into his suspicions regarding his father’s intentions. This creates tension over the conflict that unfolds later in the story.

“His father had never talked much about his family, with the exception of his brother, GL, who seemed part con man, part practical joker and part Don Juan; he had spoken of GL with the kind of indulgence he would have shown a cute, but ill-behaved and potentially dangerous, five-year-old.”

William Melvin Kelley highlights Charles’s conflicting relationship with his family and their unaddressed issues. GL is the source of Charles’s discomfort but is paradoxically also viewed as a charismatic, magnetic figure. This quote brings in the motif of youth and juxtaposes GL’s childishness with Charles’s maturity as a doctor and father.