Mommy and Daddy treat Grandma like she's a rag doll and an under loved baby. They put her in the sandbox and leave her there, whether she's comfortable or not. Mommy doesn't seem to care about what Grandma thinks or how she feels. When Daddy and Mommy hear the offstage rumble,
which signifies Grandma's death, they pay little attention to it and don't check to make sure that Grandma is ok. The next morning, Grandma fakes her death by burying herself halfway in the sand of the sandbox and crossing her arms over her chest. Mommy and Daddy walk by, notice she's "dead," and leave her there without a proper burial. The discrepancy that exists between appearance and reality is that Mommy and Daddy don't pay attention to what is actually happening, they go by what they see. Their treatment of her in death is similar to their treatment of her in life. A dog is the metaphor that is submerged in Grandma's account of their fixing her a place under the stove with an army blanket and her own dish. The function of the