Suggestions
Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.Please wait while we process your payment
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
Please wait while we process your payment
By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.
Don’t have an account? Subscribe now
Create Your Account
Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial
Already have an account? Log in
Your Email
Choose Your Plan
Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!
Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?
Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!
Price
$24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax
Subtotal $37.48 + tax
Save 25% on 2-49 accounts
Save 30% on 50-99 accounts
Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.
Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
SparkNotes Plus
You'll be billed after your free trial ends.
7-Day Free Trial
Not Applicable
Renews April 1, 2023 March 25, 2023
Discounts (applied to next billing)
DUE NOW
US $0.00
SNPLUSROCKS20 | 20% Discount
This is not a valid promo code.
Discount Code (one code per order)
SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.
Choose Your Plan
For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more!
You’ve successfully purchased a group discount. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. You'll also receive an email with the link.
Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership.
Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Continue to start your free trial.
Please wait while we process your payment
Your PLUS subscription has expired
Please wait while we process your payment
Please wait while we process your payment
full title The Member of the Wedding
author Carson McCullers
type of work Novella
genre Coming-of-age novella
language English
time and place written 1946, United States South
date of first publication 1946
publisher Bantam Books
narrator Third person narrator
point of view Third person limited: the narrator almost exclusively describes Frankie's experience and point of view. The narration is careful never to comment or editorialize on Frankie's behavior or naivete. Rather, the narrator observes Frankie with utter objectivity. At choice moments, the narrator will also describe another character's motivation or thoughts, but this is rare.
tone The novel's tone is distinctive to each of the three main sections. The first section is more dream-like, filled with colorful imagery. The second is more circumspect. The third is more bare-bones, matter-of fact. Above all, McCullers' general tone is relatively simple and straightforward.
tense The narrative is in past tense, and makes heavy use of flashbacks. In fact, the time frame of the story is such that the narration flashes back upon points within itself that it neglects to describe. McCullers skips over almost all of Saturday and then flashes back upon the afternoon later that day. Then, in the following chapters, she fills in all the details of what happened on Saturday.
setting (time) The main action of the story begins during the evening of the last Friday in August 1944 and ends the evening of the following Sunday. A brief denouement covers the events that take place after that weekend, up until November. Flashbacks extend to the beginning of the summer.
setting (place) A small Southern town
protagonist Frankie Addams, twelve years old, who later changes her name to F. Jasmine Addams and then to Francis.
major conflict The major conflict of the novel is an internal one: Frankie's struggles to end her childhood and to connect with not just a more adult environment, but also a more adult frame of mind. However, before she does so, she must get past some of her delusional childhood fantasies and her extreme naïveté.
rising action The rising action is the period of fierce anticipation Frankie goes through up until the wedding of her brother
climax The climax is the wedding itself, and the great disappointment it becomes for Frankie.
falling action Frankie's catharsis after the wedding amounts to a fountain of tears and an eventual attempt to run away. She briefly contemplates suicide. Her plans are thwarted when the police find her and send her home. A much more rapid denouement shows Frankie rapidly maturing after the events of the weekend. John Henry's death signifies her transition into young adulthood.
themes Sexual and emotional development; the rules of life that create divisions between people; the discrepancy between surface impressions and what lies beneath.
symbols Eyes; ticking clocks; playing cards; dissonant piano scales.
foreshadowing John Henry's death is foreshadowed by the metaphorical death of "the old Frankie." Frankie's eventual sexual discovery is foreshadowed by the color red in her blood and in the Soldier's hair.
Please wait while we process your payment