Kirby Family and their Relationship in The Happy Journey

There are five members, including the married daughter Beulah, in the Kirby family: Elmer (father), Kate (mother) Arthur and Caroline. Arthur is thirteen and Caroline is fifteen. Both of them go to the same school. Beulah is twenty-two and she lives with her husband in Camden. She has recently returned to her house in Camden from hospital after the painful childbirth, but her baby did not even live a few minutes.

When the play begins, we see Arthur playing marbles all alone and Caroline talks to her friends. Kate has been married to Elmer for twenty-five years. She is a good housewife and a loving mother. She loves her family very much. To her the best place in the world is that place where her husband and children live. Elmer works in a laundry and he is also a good driver. Now he is on vacation for a week. That is why his family members are visiting Beulah in Camden.

Their relationship with their neighbors has always been good. The mother is talkative and social being. They help one another in need. Before going to Camden Kate Kirby asks Mrs. Hobmeyer to give the cat a saucer of milk in the morning and the evening during her absence. Mrs. Hobmeyer too readily accepts. She has also told her to use anything she needs by opening the door because Kate has left the key hanging by the icebox. Kate Kirby asks her daughter to greet her neighbors whenever they see. The Kirby children play and talk with their neighbor’s children. Their neighbors also want to listen to the news about the family. Before they leave their hometown, they bid farewell to all their neighbors. She is too frank that she even tells about her personal details to the strangers and when she sees some weak and lean people she wishes to feed them and make them fat and healthy. When they see a funeral on their way to Camden, they stop and Elmer and Arthur take off their hat as a sign of respect. They respect the other members of the society and have a friendly relationship.