Chapter 13 Summary and Analysis: The Judge and Her Daughter
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
Polly, Garrison, and Mark drive to a New Jersey country club for a dinner honoring Polly’s mother, Judge Mary Kerr Goodman, presented by the Women’s Bar Association. Polly is reluctant, but Mark is enthusiastic about family obligations. In the car, Mark suggests Polly and her mother are more alike than she admits. At the event, Polly hears only praise from clerks and colleagues, who describe her mother as tough yet nurturing. The judge delivers a speech that surprises Polly and Garrison: she says she once wanted to be an archaeologist, tying it to the law as excavation. Polly feels she does not truly know her mother. After dinner, the three leave early, and Garrison, who drank heavily, voices his own sense of distance. Mark reassures Polly as they drive home.
Key Events
- Garrison arranges a car so he can drink at the dinner.
- Mark insists on attending, contrasting Polly’s reluctance with his own family’s closeness.
- In the car, Mark argues that Polly resembles her mother in strength and dependability, not just judgment.
- Polly recalls her mother’s rare support after she dropped out of graduate school and her first marriage.
- At the country club, clerks and colleagues praise Judge Goodman; a former clerk calls her “incredibly tough” but fair.
- The judge makes a surprise speech about wanting to be an archaeologist, using the metaphor for legal discovery.
- After the speech, Polly, Garrison, and Mark slip out early; Garrison is drunk and admits he also feels he doesn’t know their mother.
- Mark comforts Polly, reaffirming their future plans to have children.
Character Development
Polly Goodman: This chapter deepens Polly’s conflicted relationship with her mother. She is proud of Judge Goodman’s achievements yet resentful of her emotional distance. Polly struggles to reconcile the public icon with the private woman who never left her lunchbox notes.
Garrison Goodman: Garrison shares Polly’s alienation from their mother but uses humor and alcohol to cope. His admission that he also feels he doesn’t know her reveals a vulnerability beneath his sarcasm.
Mark Capra: Mark serves as an emotional anchor, offering both critique and reassurance. His observation that Polly and her mother share core traits is a turning point, and his steady optimism contrasts with the Goodman family’s reserve.
Judge Mary Kerr Goodman: Though mostly seen through others’ eyes, her speech reveals a hidden intellectual passion (archaeology) and a public persona that charms strangers but remains opaque to her own children. The wink at the table hints at a warmth she seldom displays privately.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
Public vs. private self: The chapter contrasts the judge’s acclaimed professional identity with Polly’s experience of her as an absent mother. The red dress both women wear symbolizes an inherited likeness that Polly is uneasy about.
Family obligation vs. emotional authenticity: Mark’s family attends races to cheer each other; Polly’s family attends dinners out of duty. The chapter questions whether closeness can be forced.
Metaphor of archaeology: The mother’s speech about excavation in law becomes a symbol for Polly’s own digging to understand her mother. The “clasped hands” award suggests connection but feels impersonal.
The mother-daughter gap: More than a simple conflict, the chapter shows how even loving relationships can feel unknowable. Polly’s therapist reminds her that she is not alone in this feeling.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter 13 is central to Polly’s character arc because it forces her to see her mother as a complete person—brilliant, admired, and yet inaccessible. The scene at the country club upends Polly’s fixed view: the judge gives a witty, self-deprecating speech, and others see a mentor Polly never had. The chapter also cements Mark’s role as the bridge between Polly’s guardedness and her capacity for warmth. His comment that she and her mother are alike plants a seed for Polly’s eventual growth. Meanwhile, Garrison’s drinking and confession underscore that the emotional distance is a family pattern, not just a mother-daughter issue. This chapter sets up a reckoning Polly will need to have with her own identity as a future parent.
Study Questions and Answers
1. Why does Polly feel like she doesn’t know her mother, even after hearing the speech?
Polly knows only the judge’s professional side—her toughness, her absence during childhood. The speech about archaeology reveals a personal dream Polly never knew, highlighting how much of her mother’s inner life remains hidden. The praise from clerks contradicts Polly’s lived experience, deepening her confusion.
2. What does Mark mean when he says there is “more of your mother in you than you like to admit”?
Mark points out that both Polly and her mother are strong, smart, and dependable—traits that shape their careers. He suggests personality and profession are mutually reinforcing, not contradictory. Polly rejects the comparison because she associates those traits with her mother’s judgment, not her own empathy.
3. How does Garrison’s behavior at the dinner reflect the family’s dynamic with their mother?
Garrison drinks heavily, a pattern Polly notices every time they face a family obligation. His drunken confession that he also feels he doesn’t know their mother reveals that the emotional distance is shared, not unique to Polly. His sarcastic humor and need for alcohol are coping mechanisms for the same discomfort Polly feels.