Chapter 42: Roz’s Formative Years in the Rooming House
⚠️ 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
The adult Roz, alone in her cellar eating a Nanaimo bar, reflects on her childhood as Rosalind Greenwood. She lived with her mother in a Toronto rooming house during and just after World War II. Her father was absent—on secret war‑related business, she believed—and his rare letters arrived from far‑flung countries. Roz’s mother ran the house with relentless cleaning, expecting Roz to help constantly. Three boarders shared the house: old Mr. Carruthers (a wounded veteran), quiet Miss Hines (a Catholic who loved detective novels), and the glamorous, divorced Mrs. Morley, who worked at Eaton’s cosmetics counter. Roz attended a Catholic school run by nuns, where she grappled with theological questions about sin, sacrifice, and the fate of the bad thief. She sometimes joined other children in bullying Displaced Persons (DPs) but felt ashamed afterwards. Roz sensed an invisible barrier between herself and other kids, not knowing why she was different. The chapter closes with her longing for a pet—a dog or cat—which her mother’s endless workload would never allow.
Key Events
- Roz, in the present, eats a Nanaimo bar in her cellar while thinking about her father.
- Flashback: Roz’s childhood as Rosalind Greenwood, living with her mother in a rooming house on Huron Street.
- Her father is absent, said to be doing dangerous war‑related work; his letters come from places like France, Spain, Switzerland, Argentina.
- Roz’s mother obsessively cleans the house, expecting Roz to help, in preparation for the father’s eventual return.
- The three boarders are introduced: Miss Hines, Mr. Carruthers, and Mrs. Morley.
- Roz is fascinated by Mrs. Morley, secretly looking through her jewelry box and trying on her shoes.
- At school, the nuns teach Catholic doctrine; Roz questions the injustice of the bad thief and the role of the Jews in the Crucifixion.
- Roz joins other children in taunting Displaced Persons but later feels guilty.
- She gets into fights with kids who call her a DP because of her dark skin.
- Sister Cecilia tries to explain that a bad deed remains bad even if it leads to a good outcome.
- Roz wonders about the fate of animals in Heaven; she longs for a pet but knows her mother would not permit one.
Character Development
Roz (Rosalind Greenwood): As a child, Roz is curious, physically strong, and quick‑tempered. She struggles with her identity—feeling different from peers yet wanting to belong. Her theological questions reveal a sharp mind that challenges authority, and her secret attraction to Mrs. Morley’s glamour hints at her future material success and complicated relationships.
Roz’s mother (Mrs. Greenwood): A hard‑working, grim woman whose life is consumed by cleaning and worry. She keeps her emotions tightly controlled, rarely showing affection, and uses proverbs to shut down conversation. Her refusal to enter church suggests hidden trauma or shame.
Mrs. Morley (Gladys): A divorced cosmetics saleswoman who offers Roz warmth and glamour. She represents a different kind of womanhood—one of independence, sensuality, and emotional openness—that Roz finds alluring but that her mother disapproves of.
The father (the Great Unknown): Absent for most of Roz’s childhood, he is mythologised by Roz as a heroic figure doing secret war work. His few letters provoke a strange reaction in Roz’s mother, hinting at a complicated or possibly illicit past.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
- Absence and longing: The absent father is central. Roz’s entire childhood is shaped by his vacancy; she fills it with fantasies and prayers. The empty chair at the table symbolises his continued presence‑in‑absence.
- Cleanliness and control: Roz’s mother’s obsessive cleaning mirrors her desire to control an uncontrollable world. Dirt, dust, and hair are treated as moral failings.
- Religion and guilt: Catholic teachings dominate Roz’s moral framework, but she questions their logic. The crucifixion, the bad thief, and the conversion of the Jews become sites of intellectual struggle.
- Class and identity: The rooming house microcosm exposes class, religious, and ethnic divisions. DPs are scapegoated, and Roz feels both shame and a desire to fit in. Her dark skin marks her as other.
- Glamour as escape: Mrs. Morley’s cosmetics, jewelry, and romantic films offer Roz an alternative to her mother’s drab, punishing world.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter 42 deepens our understanding of Roz’s adult character by showing the origins of her resilience, her materialism, and her complicated relationship with religion and respectability. The childhood memories explain why she values independence and why she remains haunted by a sense of not quite belonging. This chapter also enriches the novel’s exploration of how war shapes families long after the fighting ends—Roz’s father never truly returns, and her mother is worn down by the effort of waiting. The rooming house scenes prefigure the adult Roz’s domestic and professional worlds, while her theological questions echo the novel’s larger inquiry into good and evil, judgment, and mercy.
Study Questions and Answers
1. Why does Roz feel different from the other children at school?
Roz senses an invisible barrier between herself and her classmates. She is sometimes called a DP because of her dark skin. She also has a sharp mind that challenges the nuns’ teachings, and her family situation—an absent father, a struggling mother, and a rooming house—sets her apart from more conventional households.
2. What does Mrs. Morley represent for young Roz, and how does Roz’s mother view Mrs. Morley?
Mrs. Morley represents glamour, emotional warmth, and a freedom from domestic drudgery. She gives Roz samples and treats her affectionately. Roz’s mother tolerates Mrs. Morley only because she needs the rent money, but she disapproves of her divorced status and her dates, considering her morally suspect.
3. How does the chapter use Catholic theology to explore morality?
Roz wrestles with specific doctrines: the role of the Jews in the crucifixion, the fate of the bad thief, and the idea that a bad deed can produce a good result. Her questions reveal a literal‑minded, empathetic child who finds the official answers unsatisfying. This early moral questioning foreshadows the novel’s nuanced treatment of guilt, judgment, and redemption.