Black Ribbons: Chapter 21 Summary and Analysis
⚠️ 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 chapter opens with the present-day Iris writing at night, reflecting on why people feel compelled to leave a mark—"a signature" or "a pirate’s X on the map." She admits she has lost the heart to write after recording such melancholy events, yet she continues. The narrative then shifts to the day after Mother’s funeral. Reenie, exhausted and secretly crying, sends Iris and Laura outside to get fresh air. The funeral reception at Avilion was crowded with townsfolk, factory workers, and notables; Reenie complained about the guests’ appetite and the risk of stolen silverware. Iris and Laura have been sneaking leftover food from the pantry, and Reenie lacks the energy to stop them. Outside, Iris feels grumpy and bloated from overeating. Laura is annoyingly cheerful, humming and saying "Mother is with God" with a single-minded belief that irritates Iris. When Laura sits by the lily pond, leaning against a stone nymph and humming, Iris pushes her off the ledge onto the grass. Laura cries and runs toward the kitchen, skinning her hand on the way. Iris feels both relief (the blood covers her malice) and guilt.
Key Events
- Present‑day narrative frame: Iris writes by lamplight under a stormy sky, reflecting on the human desire to be remembered.
- Mother’s funeral reception: Avilion is packed; Reenie frets over the spoons and the sheer number of guests.
- Iris and Laura stuff themselves with leftover ham, cookies, and fruitcake while wearing hot black dresses with stiff black grosgrain ribbons.
- Iris resents the brightness of the garden and feels desolate and grouchy; Laura skips ahead, light‑hearted.
- Laura’s innocent response – "Mother is with God" – contrasts with Iris’s grief and provokes anger.
- Iris pushes Laura off the ledge of the lily pond onto the grass, motivated by jealousy that Laura seems to escape suffering.
- Laura falls, cries, and runs away, skinning her hand; Iris notes the blood conveniently hides her own malice.
Character Development
Iris (adult narrator): Opens by questioning the need to leave a mark – "We wish to assert our existence, like dogs peeing on fire hydrants" – revealing her self‑awareness and guilt over her own compulsion to write. As a child, she is portrayed as jealous, resentful, and capable of calculated cruelty: she pushes Laura to make her suffer too, and feels relieved when the fall draws blood to mask her act.
Laura (young): Retains a childlike, untroubled faith that their mother is with God and the baby. Her "annoyingly light‑hearted" manner puzzles adults and makes them pity her more than Iris, which deepens Iris’s bitterness. Laura’s innocence is not naive but a genuine, single‑minded belief.
Reenie: Appears only briefly but her anguish is evident—"purply smudges under her eyes" from crying, too exhausted to enforce her usual house rules. She is the practical, grieving caretaker.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
The impulse to memorialize – The chapter opens with a meditation on why people want to be remembered: through photographs, diplomas, carved names, or even a signature. Iris compares it to a "radio running down," fearing her own voice will fall silent. This motif directly connects to the act of writing the memoir.
Black ribbons as mourning – The grotesque ribbons on Iris and Laura’s braids are described as "four severe black butterflies," emblematic of stifling, forced grief. They are a symbol of performative mourning imposed on children.
The garden as a space of contrast – The lush, vibrant garden after the funeral feels offensive to Iris: "their assurance, the flickering display they were making, as if they had the right." The natural world’s vitality clashes with her desolation.
Sibling rivalry and guilt – Iris’s push is an act of malicious envy, and her later relief at Laura’s bloodied hand reveals a complex mix of vindictiveness and self‑justification. This moment foreshadows the fraught relationship that defines the novel.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter 21 crystallizes the central emotional tension between Iris and Laura. It provides a concrete childhood memory of cruelty born from grief, establishing Iris’s lifelong guilt and her need to tell the story (the memoir itself). The opening musing on memorialization also frames the entire novel: The Blind Assassin is Iris’s attempt to leave her mark—her signature, her "pirate’s X"—before her voice goes silent. The chapter deepens our understanding of Iris’s character as both witness and perpetrator, setting up the psychological stakes for the rest of the narrative.
Study Questions and Answers
1. Why does Iris push Laura off the ledge in this chapter?
Iris is consumed by jealousy and grief. Laura seems untroubled by their mother’s death, humming and claiming Mother is in Heaven with the baby. People show more pity for Laura, calling her a "poor lamb," which rankles Iris. She admits she "wanted her to suffer too – as much as me."
2. What does the opening meditation on "memorializing ourselves" reveal about Iris’s motivations?
Iris confesses she has "lost the heart" to write but resumes anyway, comparing her writing to a dog marking territory or carving initials on a tree. This reveals a deep fear of being forgotten and a need for a witness to her existence—a motive that underpins the entire memoir she is writing.
3. How does the contrast between the indoor funeral reception and the outdoor garden function symbolically?
The reception is crowded, suffocating, and measured (Reenie counts the spoons). The garden is aggressively alive – "intense greenness," "intense yellowness and redness." This contrast highlights Iris’s inner turmoil: she feels the world should be as bleak as she is, but it refuses to be. It reinforces her sense of isolation and the artificiality of grief rituals.