Cops and Robbers by Jean Stafford

 Cops and Robbers by Jean Stafford

Cops and Robbers is another mesmerizing account, included in the Pulitzer Prize Winner for Fiction, The Collected Stories of Jean Stafford.

-          Why is it called Cops and Robbers?

-          I don't know.

I was thinking that the children play this game, at one point.

But there is only a phrase, maybe two dedicated to this and I doubt this is the reason.

More likely, it could another one of the Games People Play.

This is the title of a classic of psychology, by one of the great experts in the field, Eric Berne.

Mother and father play Cops and Robbers, accusing each other of various crimes.

The one that introduces the reader into the narrative is committed by father:

He took Hannah, who is five and the youngest of five children to the barber where her beautiful hair is cut.

The result is depression, cries and animosity.

But then this is the habit of other days and the parents drink and fight on a regular basis.

Hannah is surely affected by these permanent quarrels, like her siblings.

She is too sensitive and her mother talks to Aunt Louise on the phone and complains that this baby of five is "declining like a grown woman, like you or me".

There is anxiety and a need for love and acceptance.

Hannah is even envious and wishes she would have the place of Nephew, the cat.

I loved the name.

The mother quotes Freud, who is supposed to have said that "there are no accidents".

When father had his daughter's hair cut off, he was in fact doing this to his spouse, at least that this what the latter affirms.

In fact, Father comes across as an obnoxious character, at least in a few situations, some of which are recurring.

First of all, he declares at breakfast that:

-          "I am the autocrat at the breakfast table".

And one of his sons knows that this is someone like Hitler.

When they drive by a woman who has car trouble, the same sexist, chauvinist man says that " it serves her right, she should be at home doing her work"

Granted, this is not today's America, which is so different from the one in the story that takes place decades ago...

This America has elected a man who bragged about " grabbing women by their pussy" and entering teenage dressing rooms at beauty contests...

Father also lies about the disastrous decision to cut Hannah's hair, pretending the little girl wanted it.

The laments and negative comments of her siblings make the sad girl feel rejected and unwanted.

Especially given an incident related to a "staircase portrait of the family".

In that photograph, all the children of the family are much taller than Hannah is, prompting an uncle to comment:

-          "Is that the runt of the family or a toy breed"

And one of the brothers comments that "they keep her because her hair is made of gold".

Now that this precious hair is gone, will they send her packing?

Hannah is upset for another reason too.

She used to go with her mother to a painter and she loved the atmosphere, the peace and quiet that wee so different from the constant turmoil at home, with the banging of doors and shouts, which made all maids leave after two months or less.

This is a magnificent short story.