Character Analysis
Although Joey Dowdel is the main character and narrator in A Long Way from Chicago, his sister, Mary Alice, is also a pretty big presence. She's not just some annoying younger sibling: she's a strong-willed girl who's almost as feisty as her granny.
We see her grow up throughout the book as well—which makes sense because the sequel to the novel, A Year Down Yonder, is all about Mary Alice.
Prim and Proper
When the kids first start visiting their grandmother, Mary Alice is super prim and proper—she's a real girlie girl. She doesn't want to spend the week with her weird, country Grandma Dowdel, and she disapproves of any inappropriate behavior.
When their grandma steals the sheriff's boat and floats them down the river, she's appalled. And she's even more horrified when they pass by the men from town who are getting drunk and acting like fools. And they are also wearing low-riding pants…which we can only assume were super unfashionable, as well as being—erm—revealing:
"O.B. Dickerson, the sheriff," she said, "and them drunk skunks with him is the entire business community of the town."
Mary Alice gasped. The drawers on some of the business community were riding mighty low. "They're not acting right," she said, very prim. (3.75-76)
That's disgusting, and Mary Alice will never respect the sheriff again.
But although Mary Alice acts quite prim and proper at times, and takes up hobbies like tap dancing and jump rope, she isn't only a delicate little flower…
Unexpected Strength
…because Mary Alice actually has a lot in common with her grandmother—she's strong and determined. At first, she may be skeptical of Grandma Dowdel's plans to go trap fishing, but she still goes along and helps in a way that not even Joey can do:
Finally, Mary Alice took the rusty hatchet out of my hand. And whomp, she'd bring down the blade, and that fish head would go flying. Mary Alice was good at it, so I let her do it. Grandma gutted. (3.117)
When Joey balks at the idea of chopping off all those fish heads, Mary Alice takes over for him. He may think that he's the man of the house when he's around Grandma Dowdel and Mary Alice, but his kid sister proves that she's just as tough as he is. Just because she's girlie doesn't mean that she can't hold her own.