Royal Beatings

Relationships such as marriage, or sibling relationships impact the plot because it either gives us the ability to read the actions of those in the relationship, or takes that ability away. An example where we acquire the ability without needing a proper explanation through narration is in the story "Royal Beatings". Around the point of the story where Rose is about to receive her royal beating (but we don't know this yet), her brother Brian runs out of the room in fear. The narrator doesn't have to explain to us that Brian is afraid for his sister and therefore hides, because just by being able to relate to sibling relationships, we know what lies ahead for Rose when Brian jets.

However, in the same instance, because the narrator doesn't need to explain the sibling reaction, the narrator doesn't fill us in on what kind of relationship Flo and Rose's father operate on. It was vital that Brian and Rose's interaction was present in the scene because we would have no idea that Rose's father was going to do what he did.

What we learned from Flo and Rose's relationship was that Flo was going to be apologetic, because of her love for Rose and her story about Rose plays a foreshadowing role in that.