Chapter 83 – The ‘Tartlet’ Dress Rehearsal
Spoiler Warning
This analysis delves into Chapter 83 of All the Colors of the Dark. It reveals character beats and thematic threads best appreciated after reading the chapter. Proceed only if you are ready.
Summary
Saint spends an hour at Miss Kline’s shop on Main Street after closing time, with Norma silently pleading for cooperation. Inside the fitting room, Saint rejects a cream corduroy midi with “tartlet” disgust, a watercolor house dress that makes her feel like a birthday girl’s mother, and a psychedelic red print that nauseates her. A deep V-neck maxi prompts a crude complaint, until they settle on a black floral dress with a white collar. At home, Saint unearths her grandmother’s ancient, separated makeup and Norma summons Mrs. Harris, the funeral parlor’s cosmetician. Mrs. Harris pushes Saint into a chair and endures a volley of curses while applying makeup. Saint refuses to let her braid be touched. Once ready, Saint descends the stairs as Norma takes a flurry of photos, and Saint battles the urge to flip off the camera.
Key Events
- Saint tries on four dresses at Miss Kline’s after-hours store: cream corduroy, watercolor house dress, psychedelic red print, and a red-and-blue maxi; none satisfy.
- The compromise choice is a black floral dress with a white collar.
- At home, Saint’s inspection of Norma’s makeup reveals separated foundation from 1955, making the products unusable.
- Norma calls in Mrs. Harris, who works for Monta Clare Funeral Parlor, to do Saint’s makeup.
- Mrs. Harris applies cosmetics amid verbal sparring; Saint insists, “Leave it the fuck alone,” when asked about her braid.
- Saint walks down the stairs, Norma takes dozens of photographs, and Saint visibly fights the impulse to make an obscene gesture.
Character Development
- Saint: Her sarcastic commentary and visceral rejection of each dress highlight a deep discomfort with traditional femininity. The “tartlet” quip and refusal to alter her braid show that beneath the cutting humor she is fiercely protective of her authentic self. Even in compliance, she chooses a garment that feels dark and structured, not frilly.
- Norma: Her quiet orchestration—pleading with her eyes at the store, fetching the mortuary makeup artist—demonstrates a canny understanding of Saint’s prickly nature. She avoids lecturing, captures the moment with photos, and accepts that Saint will never fully conform. Her pride is palpable.
- Mrs. Harris: The funeral home beautician arrives with an industrial kit and a blunt, professional demeanor. Her retort, “If I can bring a corpse back to life, I can handle you,” personifies the chapter’s macabre humor. She treats the living and dead with the same matter-of-fact approach, underscoring the thin boundary between them.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
- Performance of Femininity and Resistance: The fitting room becomes a battleground for identity. Saint’s sarcastic rejections and the final dark floral dress exemplify the tension between what society expects and what she is willing to surrender.
- Death Adornment: Using a funeral cosmetician to “make up” a living girl turns makeup into a ritual of presentation for the dead, suggesting that Saint may feel emotionally lifeless or that she is preparing for a public viewing. The phrase “bring a corpse back to life” implies that transformation is a form of resurrection, however provisional.
- Small-Town Interdependence: Miss Kline stays late, Mrs. Harris crosses the street—Monta Clare’s residents bend their routines to help Norma and Saint. This communal effort, though quirky, provides a safety net that tempers Saint’s isolation.
- The Untouched Braid: The one aspect of her appearance Saint refuses to change represents the core of her identity she will not sacrifice, a small but powerful act of self-preservation.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter 83 leavens the novel’s darker strands with slapstick tenderness and community warmth. It deepens Saint’s character by showing that even routine preparations become a struggle for autonomy. The intrusion of the funeral parlor’s cosmetician reinforces the book’s habit of mingling death and life, and the scene’s humor—Saint’s curses, Norma’s photo spree—grounds the story in the ordinary absurdity of family. For readers, it is a reminder that the people around Saint, eccentric as they are, work quietly to hold her together before whatever event awaits. The chapter also foreshadows a public moment for Saint, where she will be on display and judged, making her resistance to commodified femininity a crucial emotional stake.
Study Questions and Answers
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How does the dress-shopping sequence reveal Saint’s feelings about conforming to social expectations? Saint fires off dismissive labels for each dress: “tartlet,” “birthday girl’s mother,” “nauseous.” She treats the garments as costumes that threaten to erase her. Her final acceptance of a black floral dress with a white collar is a negotiated surrender—dark enough to feel like hers, yet formal enough to meet the occasion. The pattern of rejections underscores her conviction that femininity is a performance she participates in only on her own terms.
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What role does Mrs. Harris’s profession play in the chapter’s tone and symbolism? Her job instantly introduces gallows humor: “If I can bring a corpse back to life, I can handle you.” The line collapses the distance between beauty rituals and mortuary science, suggesting that both involve masking death. Saint, often emotionally guarded, submits to the same hands that prepare the dead, hinting that she too may feel hollow or on display. The scene uses that parallel to blend comedy with a subtle meditation on vitality and façade.
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How does the interaction between Saint and Norma in this chapter illuminate their relationship? Norma orchestrates the makeover without ever issuing a direct order. She looks at Miss Kline with pleading eyes, then silently fetches Mrs. Harris when the old makeup fails. Afterward, she takes countless photos—documenting Saint in a rare moment of reluctant beauty—while Saint refrains from the obscene gesture she craves. Their dynamic is built on unspoken understanding: Norma provides space and support, and Saint, despite the bristle, gives just enough compliance to let love show.