. . . I remember my mother telling me of her childhood, growing up in DC at the height of the Great Depression: coming home from school to find the US Marshals had evicted her family from their anything-but-luxe rooming house; having the toilet pipes leaking down on to the kitchen table . . .

Yet somehow her parents were able to encourage their four children to read, to get good educations, to strive to overcome their origins, lack of money, class, everything. My mother grew up to become a school teacher with a post-graduate degree. My father, who was raised in similar circumstances, travelled overseas on behalf of his government.

There were efforts that could have been made by the Price parents that were not. Sloth is listed among the seven mortal or venial sins. To not do your utmost for your children seems to me to be immoral. Perhaps I am reading too many modern sensibilities into a tale that takes place before there were truant officers and child welfare organizations. If Mrs. Price could love William and Betsy, why not all of her children? If Mr. Price could find the price of a pint or two, why not find the means to some kind of employment so that his family could have a better life?