Sisters

The characters of Leala and Sonya in Rebecca Curtis’ short story “The Toast” are extremely complex and realistic individuals who the reader can both sympathize with and find difficult to favor. Leala is introduced to the reader in her conversation with Sonya about her wedding in which she seems like a typical older sister. She clearly differs from Sonya in many ways (or rather, Sonya differs from everyone else) but in general she just seems like all she wants is for her sister to attend her wedding. However, soon Sonya begins talking about Leala’s relationship with Matty. She references so many instances in which Leala seemed to dictate Matty’s life in a seemingly controlling and inconsiderate way. This skewed my perception of her to be negative and I began to envision her as the uptight conceited older sibling that seems to be described according to www.firstborns.com. This first section also highlights the difference between the sisters’ wealth. Right off the bat, it is established that although Leala informed Sonya that the wedding “would not be fancy”, there would be a plethora of extra features such as a hair-metal band, a five-course local organic vegan dinner, and a life-size fair-trade chocolate baby elephant. This can be seen as one of Sonya’s attempts at humor yet the point remains the same, being that Leala is pretty well off. Sonya, on the other hand, is immediately introduced as having financial struggles. She owed thousands of dollars and did not have a stable job.

However, as the story continues, the truth begins to come out that Leala did not have it easy as a child. The girls’ mother was constantly reminding Leala that because she was the first born she was the reason their mother could not follow her dreams and why her life would never turn out the way she had wanted. This clearly had a significant impact on Leala. Leala’s character is extremely sensitive and caring and because of that she is constantly being taken advantage of. This can be seen through Sonya’s abuse toward their dog to get her sister to do what she wants, as well as through the way that their mother can get her to do pretty much anything through guilt. She has forced her daughter to live under a constant state of guilt over her existence and in doing so, has manipulated her into a submissive and obedient child. Suddenly, the reader’s impression of her turns to sympathy. This girl was emotionally abused and manipulated from a very young age so that everything she did was essentially for the benefit of others. As more of the dynamics of this family come into light the reader also begins to question the narrator’s credibility. Though she painted Leala in a very negative light in the first section of the story, in these short anecdotes from their childhood her claims about how Leala has had it easier or was meant to turn out better since day one seem unjustified.

Comparing adult Leala with child Leala, she has come a long way since she was living with Sonya. This is particularly clear in the role she plays in her relationship with Matty compared to that with any of her family members as a child. She was constantly being pushed around without ever speaking up for herself. However, in her relationship with Matty she is running the show and he is now the one following. This highlights a change in her personality, perhaps making her more admirable or less of a push-over to some readers. Additionally, the dynamics between the sisters seems to have flipped. When they were young, Sonya’s life seemed so much better than Leala’s. She got more freedom, she did not do what she was told or receive the brunt of as much of the verbal abuse. However, now as adults Sonya is much more wealthy than her sister and is the one with a partner, stable job, and altogether seemingly better life. Still, there is one aspect of their relationship that seems to remain constant, which is that Leala is still looking after Sonya. As children she essentially acted as Sonya’s mother, but even now she is financially helping her younger sister as well as offering support when she is ill. In this way, the girls have no actually grown very much. Leala is still the mature one, who seems far older than she really is, while Sonya is still somewhat childish and spontaneous, making her dependent on others for stability.