The Secret Agent
Some day, when I was preparing for my class, some colleagues were talking about the children and their parents. One of them said:”In foreign country, the children will leave the parents away when they growen up.” Then she continued: “We would not ask them to give us lives.” I was very surprised. Why did they have the violent idea? I read some sentences:
“I think you’re making a big mistake, mother,” Winnie announced ,” It’s embarrassing that you should leave our home to go to such a place. It looks as if we haven’t been good to you.”
“Oh, don’t be silly. You’re been a wonderful daughter. And your hunsband…” The old woman began to get tears in her eyes. She stopped talking and turned her head toward the window.
It was true, this move would look bad to people. They would think that Winnie and her husband had cruelly forced the old woman to leave their home. Or they would simply think that the daughter did not care for her mother enough in her old age. Either way, it would look quite bad. However, Mrs. Verloc’s mother knew that she was an extra mouth to feed. She knew that she took up space in that small house of theirs. And she knew that Mr. Verloc would get increasingly tired of having his wife’s family around. By moving out, she might be able to make it easier for Mr. Verloc to accept Stevie living in his home.
After I finished, she felt big shameful.