Chapter summaries The Margaret Atwood 4-Book Bundle Margaret Atwood

Chapter 187: Roz’s Nativity Play, Anti-Catholic Bullying, and the Arrival of Her Father

⚠️ 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

Roz walks home alone after a Nativity play rehearsal where she was the chief angel, proud of her performance but hurt by classmate Julia Warden’s comments about her not being a “real Catholic” and her father being a DP. She retaliates with a Chinese burn and is scolded by Sister Cecilia. On her way home, two Protestant boys chase her, rub snow in her face, and call anti-Catholic slurs. When she arrives, two men—Uncle George and Uncle Joe—are in the kitchen drinking; they are wartime friends of her father. Her mother prepares a special dinner, and late that night Roz’s father returns. The chapter contrasts Roz’s old life (her mother’s authority, the nuns) with the new masculine presence that shifts her mother’s behavior and fills the house. Roz learns her father is half-Jewish, a DP from the war, and the uncles reveal horrors of the Holocaust. Roz turns to murder mysteries for comfort, preferring tidy resolutions.

Key Events

  • Roz rehearses as the chief angel in the Nativity play, proud of her loud voice but mocked by Julia Warden for having black hair and a DP father.
  • She fights with Julia Warden, earning a reprimand from Sister Cecilia.
  • Two Protestant boys chase Roz home, calling “The Pope stinks,” and rub snow in her face.
  • Roz finds Uncle George and Uncle Joe in the kitchen, drinking and waiting for her father.
  • The uncles show Roz multiple passports and boast about her father’s skills as a horse thief and liar.
  • Roz’s mother becomes unusually cheerful and deferential, cooking a special dinner.
  • Late that night, Roz’s father arrives; Roz feels both recognition and shame that he is a DP.
  • Roz’s life is “cut in two” as her father’s presence diminishes her mother’s authority and Roz experiences jealousy and guilt.
  • The uncles move into the cellar, disrupt the household, and provoke complaints from other boarders.
  • Mr. Carruthers whisperingly calls the uncles Jews; Roz confronts the uncles and learns her father is half-Jewish and the extent of Holocaust atrocities.
  • Disturbed, Roz starts reading murder mysteries for their orderly solutions.

Character Development

  • Roz: Grows from a proud performer into a conflicted child who must reconcile her identity. Her loyalty shifts from her mother to her father, but she feels guilt and confusion about her family’s past.
  • Roz’s mother (Aggie): Transforms from a strict, independent woman into someone submissive and doting once her husband returns. Her bending highlights the power imbalance in the marriage.
  • Roz’s father: A mysterious, charismatic figure—large, bearded, with a strong accent. He represents a world of war, displacement, and secrecy. His arrival reshapes the household.
  • Uncle George and Uncle Joe: Wartime comrades who embody rootlessness, survival skills, and traumatic memory. Their multiple passports and stories reveal a past of danger and moral ambiguity.
  • Julia Warden: A minor antagonist who voices the prejudice of the community, labeling Roz’s father a DP and questioning Roz’s religious legitimacy.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

  • Otherness and Identity: Roz’s black hair, non-Catholic background, and DP father mark her as different. The chapter explores how children absorb and enforce social hierarchies.
  • Performance and Reality: Roz’s angel costume contrasts with the gritty truth of her family’s immigrant past. The Nativity play’s idealized nativity scene is undermined by the actual messy family dynamics.
  • Power and Authority: The mother’s “abdication” when the father returns shows a shift in domestic power. The uncles’ presence challenges the rules of the boarding house.
  • War and Trauma: The uncles’ veiled references to the Holocaust (ovens, lampshades) introduce the chapter’s darkest theme. Roz’s reaction is to seek fiction with clear morality—murder mysteries—as a coping mechanism.
  • Passports and Borders: Symbols of identity and deception. The uncles’ multiple passports highlight their survival strategies and the instability of national identity after war.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter is pivotal for understanding Roz’s formative years. It reveals the origin of her fierce independence, her sensitivity to class and ethnic prejudice, and her psychological need for order in the face of chaos. The father’s arrival and the Holocaust disclosure plant seeds that will affect Roz’s adult relationships and career choices. The chapter also deepens the novel’s exploration of how wartime trauma echoes through generations.

Study Questions and Answers

  1. Q: How does the Nativity play rehearsal set up the central conflicts of this chapter?
    A: It showcases Roz’s competence and pride, but also exposes her to Julia Warden’s remarks about her hair and her father being a DP. The play’s themes of belief and belonging mirror Roz’s own search for identity in a community that views her family as outsiders.

  2. Q: Why does Roz’s mother change her behavior so drastically after the father returns?
    A: The mother becomes submissive and “mushy cow-eyed” because she is overjoyed that her husband survived the war and has come home. She abdicates authority to him, possibly feeling that his presence restores their family’s completeness and secures financial stability.

  3. Q: What purpose do Uncle George and Uncle Joe serve in this chapter?
    A: They act as comic yet unsettling intermediaries between Roz’s sheltered life and the brutal reality of the war. Their multiple passports and stories of survival illustrate the theme of disguise and the moral compromises made during conflict. They also inform Roz about her father’s Jewish heritage and the Holocaust, forcing her to confront evil.

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