63 pages • 2 hours read
French Braid
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapter 5Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 5 Summary
Robin is the protagonist of Chapter 5, which focuses on Robin and Mercy’s 50th anniversary, on July 5, 1990. Robin decides to throw a surprise anniversary party for Mercy on the Sunday beforehand; Lily objects, saying, “I don’t think Mom is the kind who likes surprises, to be honest” (144). Robin chooses to arrange the party without the help of his children. He believes that no one realizes Mercy doesn’t live with him anymore; he hopes she will never tell the children, assuming they would be devastated. Because his parents divorced when he was six and his mother died of cancer when he was 14, Robin loathes the notion of divorce. He clings to the promise that Mercy will never divorce him. He still marvels that she was ever attracted to him and wonders if, one day, Mercy will realize she made a mistake when she married him.
Alice tries to convince him to notify Mercy about the party, echoing Lily’s misgivings: “[I]n my opinion, surprise parties are never, ever, under any condition whatsoever, a good idea” (147). He amiably refuses her suggestion and her offer to take over, instead asking her to call David and insist that he bring his family.
As word spreads, everyone apart from Robby the Girl and Robby the Boy—each with obligations—promises to attend. Lily asks how he knows Mercy will attend. Robin plans to call her at the studio and say David has dropped by the house, something so rare she will surely come home.
The day of the party, each family arrives with a new addition. Alice and Kevin come first, with middle child Eddie and preschooler Candle. Lily and Morris arrive next, with their preschool daughter, Serena. Finally, David and Greta drive up with Emily, now in her late teens, and their seven-year-old, Nicholas. Robin calls the studio and tells Mercy that David is at their home.
The family sits nervously, waiting for Mercy to arrive. She enters, sees everyone staring at her in complete silence, and stops in amazement. Greta ends the awkwardness by wishing Mercy a happy anniversary, followed by everyone else. Mercy did not realize she and Robin were at this landmark. Alice remarks, “Oh, Mom, how could you not remember? Fifty years, can you believe it?” to which Mercy replies, “No, actually” (156). Kevin offers a champagne toast, after which Robin hurries to the kitchen to serve the salmon loaf.
As they gather, Mercy struggles with how everyone but her knew about the party. She cannot grasp why Robin didn’t tell her. Greta finally says Robin was afraid she would not agree to have the party if she had known. As they prepare to eat, Robin emotionally explains the significance of the salmon loaf, the first dish Mercy made for him after their wedding. Mercy smiles at him, and he feels the party is a success.
After lunch, Robin shows a home movie, which he recently converted to VHS. Robin is struck by the similarities between the images of his young children and his grandchildren, noting that the grandchildren tend to resemble their aunts and uncles, though not their parents. After the movie, the three families rise and quickly depart. Robin finds himself alone with Mercy. He realizes he was afraid Mercy would not be willing to celebrate their anniversary. They discuss their wedding night and the advice the minister gave Robin about being considerate to his new bride. They decide to go to bed together.
When Robin wakes, he finds Mercy folding clothes. He asks her to move back in, offering her complete freedom. She makes no firm response but clearly has no intention of moving home again. Mercy takes the laundry basket and heads to her studio. Robin binges on leftovers, thinking that no one is around to stop him.
Chapter 5 Analysis
Chapter 5 is an ironic section of triumph and tragedy arising from the same series of events. The key reality lingering over this chapter is that Robin, who has the reputation of being a klutz, is about to try something of a scope far grander than anything he has ever attempted. As the previous chapters have demonstrated, Robin is not good with celebrations, family interactions, or dealing with emotional situations. Yet he goes against the advice of both daughters, who in the tradition of the perpetually disaffected family, can’t encourage his good-hearted plans. That no one speaks at first when Mercy arrives, stunned into silence, is a testament to everyone’s assumption that something was bound to go wrong. They are also only willing to give up a portion of their day, even for such an important event; as soon as Robin’s plan has been carried out, they rapidly give in to their desire to escape.
Mercy is the exception, refraining from trying to escape for the night. Once she gets over her shock, she is gracious, admiring, and agreeable, even choosing to spend the full night. Giving this time to Robin, reminiscing about their wedding night, and remaining in their marriage after all this time is an expression of her love for him—but she hits her limit when Robin asks her to consider moving back in. She does not value her husband or domestic life enough to give up her creative solitude.
Though Robin’s grand plan succeeds masterfully—he manages to gather his whole family, serve an emotionally significant meal, and surprise everyone with a window into their past that transfixes all of them—Mercy’s gentle, implicit refusal to move back in turns the triumph of the previous day into a tragedy.
Mercy’s earlier descriptions of their courtship recorded a number of missteps Robin made; yet, when he did everything wrong, he ultimately succeeded in winning Mercy as a wife. Now, 50 years later, Robin has done everything right, yet he fails, losing his wife in the ways that matter to him. This reality, that reconciliation and mutual accommodation is not always possible no matter how much integrity two people approach their relationship with, is an insight that winds through many of Tyler’s narratives.
Unlock all 63 pages of this Study GuidePlus, gain access to 8,800+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
Related Titles
By Anne Tyler
