Elizabeth Bishop's celebrated prose In the Village throws light on Bishop's childhood. Her father's untimely demise leaves her mother grief-stricken. She describes her mother is going to wear a purple dress after wearing black dresses for five years. It shows her mourning period is finally over but, her mother is still not sure about wearing the purple dress.
Bishop writes that she is habitual of living without her mother because her mother always leaves home unannounced. Elizabeth feels her mother's grief makes Elizabeth vanish as if she never existed for her mother. Bishop's mother becomes unstable after her husband's death, and she always feels anxious for her daughter's safety. Eventually, her mother's mental health deteriorates, and Bishop's grandparents take her custody.
In her prose, Bishop presents herself as an embarrassed kid. She used to deliver food packets to her mother but, she does it very discreetly so that nobody knows that her mother lives in a sanatorium. She never feels anything in the absence of her mother but feels anxious whenever she comes home. She ends her story by mentioning the sound that comes from his neighbor Nate's workshop when he makes shoes for his horse. The sound of clang turns every sound or scream in silence.
