To understand Sally it is important to factor in and understand how she grew up: which was rather fast.
She grew up with her sister, her mother, and her father in California in a house surrounded by the forest. Her mother was a painter and her dad was a fisherman, and they were very much in love. The girls received treats from France and Sally herself received letters from her grandfather. He was a mysterious person and warned her that one day the life she loved would be turned upside down. She took his words to heart but focused on enjoying having tea parties with her sister, eating delicious macaroons, playing outside in nature. She hoped the message he gave her would come later rather than anytime in the future.
Unfortunately...it came sooner.
Sally had to step up when their babysitter received the call that their parents were dead. Sally had to calm down the babysitter, Sally had to start packing and guide her sister so they could be ready to leave. She remembered the words of her grandmother telling her to call their family if they were ever in trouble. Sally was determined for them to not be separated. She called Aunt Frances, and after that, they left their sunny and green home to travel to the aunts and saw snow for the first time. They were greeted with pocketfuls of candy and gumballs and balloons and brought to their family’s ancestral home.
The aunts did their best to give them love, to provide for them, but they had never had any children of their own and it showed. They didn’t set up rules, much less enforce any, which is something every kid needs whether they like it or not; it’s for their own good. Within a week of eating nothing but cake and candies and drinking chocolate milk, Sally realized they couldn’t live that way. So she took to not only learning how to cook but cooking proper, nutritional meals for everyone (the aunts loved her lamb chops and baked beans). She took care of the laundry and hung it out to dry on Thursdays. She took care of sweeping and dusting and cleaning. She took care of the cats and was the one to carry them to the vet in a knitting bag. She used the car to haul out trash and do grocery shopping. She still has her sister, but in many ways Sally became her surrogate mother.
Sally developed a complex. When she was at work in the garden, curled up with a library book, the aunts told her to go out. They told her to be wild. They said her goodness was spinelessness, ironically showing they are quite judgemental themselves and not really self reflecting on the reasons why she did everything the way she did. They weren’t even aware that the reason she became a vegetarian was because she saw their meddling business in the kitchen, heard the mourning dove’s cries before its heart was stabbed with a needle. Then again they thought it was perfectly okay to throw parties at the house and invite college and frat boys over in the hopes of one of them hitting it off with Sally.
Both Sally and Gilly developed their own insecurities relating to the aunts. Again, they loved them and cared for them the best they could, but they weren’t the best with children and it showed. As adults they both end up feeling, deep down, that they were hated by them, as evidenced by the following passage in the book:
“Sally believed the aunts judged her as far too ordinary to be of any real interest. Gillian felt sure they considered her common. Because of this, the girls always felt temporary. They had the sense that they’d better be careful about what they said and what they revealed. Certainly they never shared their fear of storms with the aunts, as if after nightmares and stomach viruses, fevers and food allergies, that phobia might be the last straw for the aunts, who had never particularly wanted children in the first place. One more complaint might send the aunts running to collect the sisters’ suitcases, which were stored in the attic, covered with cobwebs and dust, but made of Italian leather and still decent enough to be put to good use. Instead of turning to the aunts, Sally and Gillian turned to each other.”
Sally grew up fast and became a take charge person with the mentality if something wasn’t done at all, much less done right, then she would do it herself. She’s a caregiver by nature who loves animals and doesn’t approve of the abuse of magic, not because it’s been taught --- but because of observing and deciding on that for herself. She’s honest, passionate, and has a kind heart, but she knows how to steel herself. Considering everything, it’s amazing she’s come out of it and risen above to be a healthy and functional woman.
