Explain Audrey’s speech at the end of the story.

No one expects Audrey to speak at Joel’s funeral. That is why her children and Jean

are very surprised when she makes her way to the pulpit and confronts the crowd.

Considering how disillusioned she is with her husband, they fear she is going to seize

the opportunity and expose his lies to everyone in attendance. However, she does not

publicly denounce him. Instead, she delivers a touching speech about Joel’s life and

work as a social justice advocate. As she then explains to Jean, she considers this

speech to be her last act of devotion toward her late husband.

Despite being released from her marital duties, she still takes it upon herself to make

sure the Litvinoff legacy remains alive. To that end, she announces her plans to create

and manage a foundation in Joel’s honor. Through this foundation, his life’s work to

further justice and equality will continue on. This is her way of making sure Joel is

remembered for his ideals and nothing else, as she mentions the right-wing press has

always had intentions of tainting his reputation.

What she wants to achieve through her performance is to preserve her family’s image

and show the world they are a united front. This is what motivates her to publicly

acknowledge Berenice and Jamil in the last part of her speech. Even though she

deeply resents her husband’s lover and illegitimate son, she goes as far as calling

them a part of her “tribe”. Audrey later confesses to Jean she had struggled with that

part of the speech.

By delivering these carefully curated words, Audrey makes sure her family’s story is

told on her terms and her image as a devoted, adoring wife lives on until the very end.

To Audrey, the way she is perceived by others is more important than how she truly

feels. In the end, she chooses to continue playing the role she built for herself.

321 words.