Julie Orringer's "Pilgrims"

                The short-story Pilgrims is about your everyday average family of four going to thanksgiving at the house of a family that they do not know that well seemingly. The story is told from the perspective of the eldest child, a young girl named Ella. The one thing that would make this family different than most families is that their mother has cancer and has been going through chemotherapy. The house that they go to is full of strange people to Ella and her brother Benjamin. It seems as if they have just recently met these people because if they had known them for a while why would they not have brought their children over there before. The thing that appears to have brought all these people together is that either they themselves have cancer or some illness or that their spouse is suffering from cancer. The thing that is continually talked about when describing each person is what their hair looks like, whether it is bald, patchy, or wiry. Also the people’s eyes are described frequently as being dark. These descriptions seem to serve the purpose of telling who has gone through chemo, who is starting to go through chemo, and also to show just how tired these people are from all the treatments and sleepless nights. It is evident that Ella and her family have not always lived an eaten like they do now and it is only because of their mothers failing health. It seems as if Ella’s mother was the first to make the switch to a healthier and more ritualistic lifestyle because she jumps right in with all the cooking, chants at the dinner table, and is completely aware of how to meditate. Ella father on the other hand seems as if he is just recently making the switch to this new lifestyle. Whenever the group is doing anything he is always looking around to others, unsure of what to do next. Ella and Benjamin unlike everyone else’s children are not made to eat the ways their parents do, possibly because even their father does not want to live this way himself. A common theme of this story is that while all the parents are hard at work trying to be physically and spiritually healthy they do not seem to find time for their children. The children do not get any of the attention because their parents are too tired and the children end up spending most of their time alone. There is irony in the fact that while the parents are so focused and cautious about their health and dying from cancer that the death that does occur is of Clarie falling from the tree house because the parents were in the house meditating. The young girl is hidden in the yard and no one is any the wiser.