Character Traits and Making Inferences

Maggie is described to be low in confidence and esteem, partly because of the ugly burns that cover her arms and legs that particularly stand out to others. Her petite structure and apparently average looks are in complete contrast to her expressive, persistent, elegant sister Dee, who Maggie worships, yet seems to be intimidated of. One word to describe Maggie would be timorous.

In reference to the paragraphs that come before, I can infer that the narrator is the mother of Maggie and Dee. I drew this conclusion because the narrator mentions a talk show where children embrace and reunite with their parents to show appreciation, and mentions a dream she had in relation to this talk show, where Dee apparently reunited with her. I would doubt that another sister would dream of such an occurrance, which leads me to make the connection that it is a parent who feels slightly cut off from her child(ren). In addition, the narrator able to observe Maggie and Dee's personalities with perception; in most stories, it is the older, wiser, or those with higher status who are able to look down and observe another's motives and feelings.