French Braid

Beyond using characters’ names symbolically, as mentioned in the Character Analysis section, Tyler uses the motif of parents handing down family names to make ironic and distinctive comments about various characters. Alice, for instance, received the name of Robin’s acerbic aunt who raised him. As she grows older, she takes on more of the contentious, picky characteristics of the original Alice. The only insight Tyler gives readers into the personality of the infant Peter Morris Hayes, so named by Serena to honor her father, Morris, is that he is fussy and unhappy. Grandmother Lily proclaims this to be his “little personality” (207), which, ironically, is the diametrical opposite of that of the original Morris.

The use of Robin as a name for two of Robin and Mercy’s grandchildren is an example of the motif as used to examine relationships. While Tyler reveals little about the two young Robins—apart from Robby the Boy being much like Uncle David in his insights—the author uses the double names to examine the perpetual jealousy and distinctiveness of the children’s mothers, Alice and Lily. The sisters argue over who had the actual prerogative to name a child after Robin. Alice says it is a girl’s name and, as firstborn, she had the right to use any family name she wanted. Lily says this is ridiculous and the person honored with the name is a male. Listening in, Mercy decries her daughters’ use of Robin’s name over her own name. This stuns the sisters, since it never occurred to them to name a child Mercy. It also raises the question of why the sisters chose to name their children after their less-respected and more emotionally distant parent.