Lena St. Clair-->The Voice from the Wall: Chapter 6-term: dialogue

The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates

In the sixth chapter, the narrator is Lena St. Clair.  She talks about how her mother would tell her stories about horrific incidents that scarred her for life.  Lena always thought of events in the most negative way possible because of the stories her mother would tell her as a child.  Lena says, "My mother never talked about her life in China, but my father said he saved her from a terrible life there, some tragedy she could not speak about" (104).  It seems to be a theme throughout this book that no one wants to talk about their past life.  They often keep it hidden as long as possible.  Lena's father seems to be the opposite of his wife.  He always did what he could to make situations better.  Lena begins to hear fighting on the other side of her bedroom wall from the neighbors.  She assumes it to be even worse, killing.  She also starts to realize that her mother acts very weird all the time.  She is very protective of Lena.  She tells her stories, sometimes fake, so she will stay away from danger. The dialogue in the book makes her mother's feelings clearer. 
                     Her mother says, "'You must not walk in any direction but to school and back home,' warned my mother when she decided I was old enough to walk by myself.
                     'Why?' I asked
                     'You can't understand things,' she said" (106).

Towards the end, Lena realizes her mom is pregnant.  Her mom loses the baby and is never the same again.  Lena's mother is going crazy.