Ashes Of Roses

When Uncle Patrick emerges from the bedroom, he has coffee at the table with Ma, and they discuss the old days back in the Island Parish of Limerick. They reminisce for a while until Patrick gets to the point and states that Ma and the girls can no longer stay there. He offers to find them a place and pay their expenses until Michael returns and finds work. Ma refuses, not just because she doesn’t want the charity, but because she wants to return to Ireland. Rose and Patrick both try to convince her to stay, but Ma starts crying. This scares Rose, who has never seen her mother cry. Uncle Patrick returns later with tickets for a ship that is due to leave the next morning. Rose is frantic, trying to think of an argument that will make her mother agree to stay. Rose knows that she has no prospects in Ireland and does not want to leave America.

The next morning, Uncle Patrick puts them in a carriage headed for the pier. When they get to the pier, Rose tries once more to convince her mother to stay. Ma refuses, so Rose suggests that she stay by herself. She’ll return the second-class ticket and make her own way until Da returns. Despite her resistance to this idea, Ma finally relents, and Maureen declares that she will stay with Rose. Rose doesn’t want that, but Ma tires of arguing. The ship signals that it is about to leave. Ma hands over the two tickets, making the girls swear that they will go back and stay with Uncle Patrick, write to her every day, and enroll themselves in school. They promise and hug Ma and Bridget goodbye. Ma leaves Rose and Maureen with the feather bed. The girls return their tickets and try to wave to their mother and baby sister. Rose decides that she’s not going back to Uncle Patrick’s.

Rose and Maureen look for lodging. Maureen wants to work during the day, but Rose insists that she get an education. Eventually, they find Broome Street and see signs of places for rent. However, the owners all turn them down, not wanting to rent to girls. On Sullivan Street, they talk to Mr. Garoff, an old Jewish man with a room to rent. At first, he declines, but upon hearing that he has a daughter, Rose asks if they could talk to her. He tells them to come back at seven to meet her, but Rose points out that it will be dark by then, and if the answer is no, they will be out on the cold streets. She convinces him to let them pay to stay one night and then, if he doesn’t want them there, they will leave. If they are allowed to stay, they will eventually have to move out when Garoff’s relatives come over from Russia. The room is barely more than a closet, but it is more than enough. Rose and Maureen worked on the stems of the paper flowers until they can’t see very well. Mr. Garoff overhears them and provides an oil lamp. When his daughter Gussela returns, they all have tea together. They learn that Gussela (or Gussie, as she is known) works as a seamstress at a large shirtwaist factory. Maureen and Rose continue making roses through the weekend, and with Gussie’s help, they find a Catholic church to attend. They both have sore fingers from the work and wonder if they’ll be able to keep doing it.

Early on Monday morning, Rose takes the paper roses to Mr. Moscovitz’s shop. The other girls laugh and shake their heads at her as he goes through the pile and discards many seemingly good roses. He tells her to come back when the shop closes at eight to get her money. While waiting for that time, she goes shopping with Maureen to buy tea and a kettle. They also want a knife for their bread, but things are more expensive than they expected. At closing time, she returns to the shop. Tessa sees her then and tells her that she is a fool for returning. Moscovitz invites Rose in, has her remove her coat, and offers her tea and a pastry. He tells her that he is planning to expand the shop and will need someone like her to be the manager. He then grabs her and forces kisses on her. She bites him on the nose and manages to yank open the door and run out. Out on the street, she realizes she left her coat in his office. Thinking of the assault, she vomits.

Rose runs back to the apartment, collapsing on the feather bed and sobbing. Maureen notices that her sleeve is ripped, but Rose won’t tell her what happened. Gussie sends Maureen out with her father and comforts Rose. After Rose tells Gussie what happened, Gussie tells her about the strikes that working women arranged two years earlier to get better treatment. She was arrested, and a police officer broke her arm. Because Rose no longer has work, Gussie offers to teach her how to use a sewing machine so that she can get a job at the Triangle factory. When she learns that Rose didn’t get paid for her flower-making and also left her coat with Mr. Moscovitz, Gussie insists that they go back there in the morning to demand both.

The next morning, Rose starts having qualms about facing Mr. Moscovitz. It is not in her character to fight or make a fuss, especially since there is the potential for harm, but Gussie convinces her that if she remains meek, other employers will take advantage of her, too. When they arrive at the shop, Rose vomits again out of nervousness. With Gussie’s support, Rose takes her coat and demands that Mr. Moscovitz pay her what he owes her. She argues that it’s the law and that Gussie, as a union representative, is there to make sure he follows it. She threatens to have him arrested. The other workers start whispering among themselves, so he gives Rose some money and tells her to get out. As Rose and Gussie leave, they hear the workers shouting at Moscovitz. Back at the apartment, they tell Maureen about it, and Gussie points out that technically Rose’s claim was inaccurate, since Moscovitz is not bound by union rules. She believes he paid her partly because he may not know enough about the labor union and partly because Rose may have inspired the other women to stand up to him. Maureen wants to go to work with Gussie and Rose, but Gussie says that it’s illegal for children under 14 to work, even though some employers break the law by hiring children as young as 10. Maureen stomps away, angry that Rose and Gussie insist she must go to school instead of working. Rose spends the rest of the morning sewing up the torn sleeve of her dress.