Roll With It

Alice Cowan is a dedicated mother, daughter, and teacher. As a single parent, Alice has many time constraints which are illustrated through indirect characterization: She does not take time to finish a meal or drives too quickly to doctor appointments. She works hard to meet Ellie’s immediate physical and emotional needs. Early in the novel, however, she is overprotective of Ellie in a way that hampers Ellie’s growth. She is also uncompromising when she is not responsive to Ellie’s requests to be more independent at school. Alice’s similarly uncompromising dedication as a daughter is also displayed in the plot through her decision to leave her current teaching position and move across the country to help care for her father. The inciting incident of the novel hence revolves around Alice and Jonah and not the protagonist, Ellie. In this case, Alice chooses to keep this decision a secret from her parents until after she has already arrived in Eufaula, so she does not have to consider anyone else’s perspective.

As the novel progresses, Alice becomes a rounded character who develops in positive ways. In Eufaula, she is a fierce disability advocate for her daughter as she enters a new school and an advocate for her father’s healthcare. She also learns to compromise with the input of others. She allows Ellie to attend school without an official aide by her side, and she listens to the arguments of those who believe that she should not return to Nashville after Ellie’s hospitalization. Alice learns to be more flexible and builds a more fulfilling life in Eufaula than she had in Nashville.

Ellie describes her Mema as a fairy-tale-like grandmother with a sense of humor. She wears her long gray hair braided and pulled into a bun. Before the bake off, Ellie describes her:

She’s like summer come early with her white capris and red-and-white checkered shirt […] This is how I always remember her best – summer Mema, drinking tea out on the porch, frying up okra, planting bulbs in the flower beds, and chasing off the rabbits with water from the hose (223).

Mema is hence characterized through Ellie’s childhood nostalgia for both fairy tale stories and summer memories. She provides a safe and welcoming environment for Ellie and prepares her kitchen to be more wheelchair accessible. Marianne is also consistent in her faith, and both Ellie and Alice attend church with them weekly while living in their home. 

Mema is nevertheless a rounded character who struggles with stubbornness and her unwillingness to admit that she needs help caring for Jonah. Sumner depicts Mema’s resistance to Alice’s help when Mema finds out that Alice is planning to stay with her for a full semester. When Jonah’s neurologist recommends assisted living, she maintains a similar defiance. Her character develops throughout the novel as she addresses both of these issues with time. She accepts Alice’s help and later moves into an assisted living home with Jonah.