Mrs. Everything

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2019

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue and Chapters 1-5

Chapters 6-10

Chapters 11-15

Chapters 16-20

Chapters 21-25

Chapters 26-29

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

The Family Home on Alhambra Street

The Kaufman family home on Alhambra Street outside Detroit, Michigan, is a symbol of togetherness, happiness, and the American Dream. The home is the culmination of Ken and Sarah’s hard work and desire to give their daughters a safe and spacious home in a Jewish neighborhood; Sarah and Ken value safety, their close-knit Jewish community, and their Jewish faith and traditions. Thus, Jo and Bethie attend Hebrew school, help Bubbe and Zayde learn English, and go to bar mitzvahs and other celebrations. The house is in a perfect location for them to stay connected to their Jewish heritage and faith, which Jo and Bethie carry with them through life.

The house is also a symbol of Ken’s memory. It was a place of happiness when Ken was still alive, particularly for Jo, who was incredibly close to her father. For this reason of sentimentality, Sarah refuses to leave the home later; she works many hours not only to provide for her daughters but also to keep the home out of foreclosure. Even in her elderly years, Sarah never moves away from the home she and Ken built together. The house holds their marriage and family memories, which she will never relinquish. In the end, when Bethie and the remaining family visit the house, this return to their beginnings shows the symbol of memory and togetherness again, when Ken, Sarah, and Jo were all still alive.

Holiday Jell-O

The Jell-O dessert is a catalyst for conflict as well as a symbol of tradition, domesticity, and family love. Ken Kaufman loved the holidays and made his traditional Jell-O so he could sing the Jell-O jingle about it jiggling as he shook the dessert from its mold in front of his little girls. Along with the challah and other recipes, the Jell-O is a staple of their family gatherings:

Jo remembered how her father would plop a slice on his plate and perform the jingle. ‘Watch it wiggle, see it jiggle,’ he’d sing. The girls had loved it when they were little, but they had gotten increasingly embarrassed by the singing as the years had gone on. [...] What she’d give to hear his voice again, she thought, even if he was singing a silly Jell-O ditty (104).

More than a dessert, the Jell-O is a family tradition that Jo carries throughout her life, making it every year without fail to honor her father’s memory. Thus, the Jell-O mold is a tradition Jo continues long after Ken dies because it represents tradition, domesticity, and family love. The recipe is so simple, even Jo can make it, earning her mother’s approval—except the year her mold doesn’t set and it falls onto a guest’s lap. In this case, the Jell-O is a conflict catalyst. Jo apologizes, but a fierce fight erupts between Jo and Sarah; Sarah calls Jo “unnatural” for her sexuality and asks what is wrong with her in front of everyone. Years later, the Jell-O is present again as a symbol of conflict when Lila throws the Jell-O at Missy in another family-dinner fight, though she misses and the Jell-O hits a piece of expensive artwork instead.

Fashion and Appearance

Clothing and fashion choices symbolize identity and self-expression. The characters' styles and clothing preferences reflect their personalities and the societal norms of the decades. For instance, Sarah wears long dresses, puts her hair in curlers, never lets her locks grow too long, stays thin, and wears a full face of makeup. She’s a traditional, feminine housewife of the 1950s. Sarah forces Jo into dresses, girdles, and other traditional feminine clothing. After Bethie gains weight, Sarah shames her and approves of her diet, though Bethie’s appearance reflects her trauma with Uncle Mel.

The fashion changes over time and reveals how women conform to or contradict society’s standards. When Jo gets older, she chooses to wear pants, cuts her hair shorter, and doesn’t wear heels. Jo takes pride in her identity as an athletic woman and lesbian, often wearing loose-fitting athletic clothing. Meanwhile, Bethie wears whatever is fashionable for the time, conforming to whatever is most accepted for women. As time goes on, fashions change, introducing the longer hair, bell-bottoms, and flowing skirts of the 1960s and ’70s. Fashion and hairstyles figure prominently in characterization, such as Jo’s pants, Bethie’s business pants suits when she’s a CEO, and Missy’s combination of masculine button-up shirts and intricate earrings. The characters grow through their self-expression in clothing, and those expressions change as the times and their self-conceptions change.