Alone now with Mena and Nanna, Thomasheen accuses Nanna of spreading his business, which is supposed to be a secret. He is condescending and threatening towards Nanna when he says, “You are a lone woman with your husband feeding the worms in his trench. You have terrible gumption with no one left to back you.” Nanna says that her son will back her as she is threatened with the county home.
Thomasheen paints a grim picture of life in the county home, with old people fighting over food and women being banned from smoking their pipes. All of this is done to intimidate Nanna and put her in her place. He goes on to explain how the woman was driven mad by her desire for the pipe and “she started scraping herself till the flesh hung from her in gibbles…” He goes into detail about her death in an attempt to scare Nanna.
Mena then opens the door and tells her to leave if she does not agree with what is happening in the house. She says that she will never leave the nice cosy fireside for a life on the road and taunts Nanna who appears helpless in the face of Mena and Thomasheen’s cruelty.
Nanna simply responds by saying, ‘there is a hatchery of sin in this house.’ Mena continues to criticise her and Nanna again responds by mocking her childlessness. Mena tries to put it on Mike but Nanna says, “a cluckin’ hen won’t hatch.’ Mena threatens to strike Nanna and tells her, ‘I will take the head from your shoulders.’
Thomasheen intervenes and drags Mena away with Nanna leaving the stage with the prophetic words echoed once again, ‘there’s a hatchery of sin in this house.’
With Nanna gone, Mena asks Thomasheen when they will get the money and she is told that they will get the money on the day of the wedding. Mena says that Sive will do as she’s told and whether she wants to marry him or not is not important to her.
Questions:
- How does Thomasheen try to scare Nanna? Use quotes from the text to back up your answer.
- Why do you think Mena and Thomasheen fear Nanna?
- How does Nanna respond to the abuse she receives from Mena?
- What is your impression of Mena in this scene?