George's Marvelous Medicine

“Most grandmothers are lovely, kind, helpful old ladies, but not this one. She spent all day and every day sitting in her chair by the window, and she was always complaining, grousing, grouching, grumbling, griping about something or other. […] She didn’t seem to care about other people, only about herself. She was a miserable old grouch.”

Grandma is presented as the opposite of stereotypical grandmothers. The use of alliteration, which involves starting several words in a row with the same sound, demonstrates awareness that, as children’s fiction, this story is likely to be read aloud. Thematically, this passage implies that Grandma’s misery is a result of her selfishness. It also sets her up as a hypocrite, since she embodies many of the negative qualities she accuses George of possessing.

“When George’s mother or father was home, Grandma never ordered George about like this. It was only when she had him on her own that she began treating him badly.”

Grandma’s treatment of George worsens when his parents are away and her verbal abuse is calculated and intentional. Her willingness to take advantage of any opportunity to dominate others is reinforced when she grows in size and energy. She uses her extra strength as an excuse to belittle others and even overpowers George when she takes the cup of medicine from him.

“‘Never grow up,’ she said. ‘Always down.’”

Grandma accuses George of growing too quickly and nearly matching her own size. Her inversion of the usual phrase “grow up” into “grow down” demonstrates how she became the way she is: She got a little meaner and more selfish each day.