Why Aren’t You Cheering for My Sister? Or: the Headless Gerbils

The chapter is a meditation on the relationship between siblings that is both fierce devotion as well as fierce competition.

The story of sisters is told through the recollection of family pet gerbils. Her children’s demand to have the gerbils is as strong as their refusal to believe that sisters would ever harm one another. Struggling to reconcile the contradictory aspects of sibling relationships, Ruhl asks why sisters don’t always cheer for one another and why one another’s existence can lead to self-doubt and rage.

Oh dear, I thought. Can we cheer for the other side and still be cheering for our sisters? When are we engaging tribalism, and what does feminism have to do with it? And why don’t sisters always cheer for one another?
- Sarah Ruhl

Discussion Questions

How would you answer Ruhl’s question “Can we cheer for the other side and still be cheering for our sisters?”

What do you think contributes to the bond between sisters? Why did Hope feel so upset when her mother cheered for the other team?

Why are the children so adamant that they take all of the gerbils from the store?

Ruhl describes sisters evoking self-doubt and murderous rage in one another. What do you think she means by this statement?

How do you respond to the children’s refusal to accept that gerbils ate one another?

Who or what do you think is the teacher Ruhl wishes to honor in this chapter?

What lessons will you carry from this chapter?

Related Resources

Positive Sibling Relationships

Navigating Sibling Relationships

Sarah Ruhl and Tracy Letts: 2 Playwrights and ‘Three Sisters’

Sarah Ruhl on Three Sisters