And if she wore cocktail dresses when she labored in her rose garden, they were cocktail dresses that she no longer intended to wear to cocktail parties. Even in her rose garden, she did not want to be seen underdressed. If the dresses got too dirty from gardening, she threw them out. When my mother suggested to her that she might have them cleaned, my grandmother said, 'What? And have those people at the cleaners wonder what I was doing in a dress to make it that dirty?' From my grandmother I learned that logic is relative.
In "A Prayer for Owen Meany," the narrator reflects on his grandmother's unique approach to dress and decorum. She wore elegant cocktail dresses while tending to her rose garden, choosing to maintain her appearance even in casual settings. This choice reveals her desire not to appear underdressed, illustrating her strong personal standards for how she wished to present herself to the world. The dresses, once pristine, were discarded if they became too soiled from gardening, showing her reluctance to compromise her image.
The narrator's grandmother's aversion to having her dresses cleaned underscores her complex logic about societal perceptions. She insisted that the thought of cleaners speculating about why her dress was so dirty was unacceptable. This experience taught the narrator about the relativity of logic and personal values, highlighting how one's reasoning can significantly differ from conventional thinking. Her unique worldview influenced the narrator's understanding of identity and the values he would come to embrace.
