The leaps that the narrator’s mother takes are both literal and figurative. The narrator herself also takes a leap when she moves in with her mother. Anna, the mother, has been a trapeze artist. In that regard, her professional career depended on constantly taking leaps. However, after lightning struck and killed her husband and caused her unborn baby’s death, Anna had to take a symbolic leap of faith in marrying again—the doctor who became the narrator’s father. Another literal leap saved her daughter’s life, when Anna jumped from a tree into their burning house to save her daughter. Now late in life, with her second husband dead, Anna is alone and has lost her eyesight. Coping with her sightless life seems like creeping along but is a different kind of leap, that of courageously facing change. The narrator feels dissatisfied with her own life and understands that caring for her mother will be a challenge. Nevertheless, she leaps across this gap to help her mother and improve her own life.
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