The Mee Street Chronicles- Adversaries

The story, "Adversaries" written by Frankie Lennon, is a story about a relationship between a youn girl, the narrator, and her aunt. In the story, the narrator's aunt is babysitting her because her parents are out of town for a meeting. During her stay with her aunt, she finds herself always getting into trouble for doing everything and anything wrong. The title, "Adversaries" which means opponents or enemies relates much to the story because the narrator ponders what it is between her and her aunt that makes them adversaries. After all it was obvious, she didn't like her aunt and her aunt didn't show any likeness towards her either. Through out the story, she talks about there relationship and how she wishes her grandma was still alive to care for her at times her parents went out of town. The story showed two themes, one being facing death which the narrator explains her feelings about her deceased grandma, and the other
being religion which relates mostly to her aunt who is religious.



One theme of the story was facing death. As the narrator is collecting switches in her backyard as a punishment by her aunt, the narrator reminisces about her grandma. The memory of her grandma’s funeral comes back and wishes she was still alive so that she didn’t have to get stuck with her aunt whenever her parents went out of town. Remembering every part of that day, she explains how painful and sore her heart was. She replays the memory of the day of the funeral on page 29, last paragraph, “It hurt to remember. Hurt badder than when I scraped both my knees bloody. Badder than when somebody stole Silky my cocker spaniel. I didn’t want to feel any more hurt in my chest so I pushed the picture memories back into the shut away place, locked it and made myself think of magic spells. If I could make the right one, I would swoosh my magic wand and make Grandmamma come back right now, and Auntie disappear. It was then that I suddenly remembered Evelyn telling me that she had overheard her mother saying that my grandmamma had passed away………………..The thought pierced my heart deep in its core.” Trying to lock it up deep down in her memory showed how painful it was to even remember her grandma knowing she’d never see her again.



Another theme is religion. The narrator mentions how her aunt considers playing games such as marbles and Jacks as “sinful idleness” and a waste of time. That is the reasons why her aunt never liked or allowed her to play any games in the house. The narrator also mentions of her aunt speaking aloud to God. For instance, whenever the narrator got yelled at by her aunt, she spoke of sins and screamed out to the Lord saying things like, “Lord! Lord! I be speaking yo truth! Lord have mercy!” It scared the narrator hearing it. Her aunt also uses the Lord to threaten the narraator by saying “You better pray to the Lord yo Mama don’t leave this world cause if she do, you ain’t gon have no body to take care of ya.” It shows how religion plays a big part in her aunt’s life and how much she looks up and believes in God.



Religion and facing death were the main themes I found that relates to the story “Adversaries.” The story talks about the narrators relationship with her aunt leaving her to question what it was that made them rivals. She also talks about how she wishes her grandma was still alive and reminisce feelings of the painful day of the funeral. Her aunt in the other hand preaches out to the Lord in difficult times and lets her anger out to him, like when she’s yelling at her niece, the narrator.