Individual Vs. Community In The Novel By Kent Haruf

In his final book, Kent Haruf demonstrates many relatable situations, one dealing with two individuals who do something unconventional for themselves against the setting of the community. A community, in this case is a link between spouses, kids, family, neighbors or strangers in the town. Haruf proves that in life, individual subjectivity, desire, and will is often neglected when making decisions with others best interests in mind rather than our own. The best-selling novelist expresses this in a way that sacrifices made to please others around us, deprive us of passions in life, true love and happiness.

Haruf expresses the idea of individual versus community in a way that it often deprives us of our passions and ambitions. The character

Out of spite, jealousy and his rough past, Gene, Addie’s son, prohibits communication between Addie and Jamie as long as she is still seeing Louis. Addie loves Jamie so much and cannot bare living without him. “I can’t do this anymore, she said. I can’t go on this way. I thought something like this was coming. I have to have contact, and some kind of life with my grandson. He’s the only one left to me. My son and his wife mean little now. That’s all broken, I don’t think they or I will ever get over it. But I still want my grandson. This summer made that clear.” (166). Here, Addie is extremely upset over what Gene has done to her and makes the tough decision of choosing Jamie over Louis. She does this because she knows, with all the trouble between Gene and his wife; Jamie needs her as much as she needs him. She’s done her duty in helping Louis deny conforming to the community but with whatever spark she still has left in her, she needs to devote to Jamie to help him grow. “They went upstairs. In bed in the dark they talked a little more. Addie was crying.” (167). If she were to communicate with Jamie while still seeing Louis, Gene would punish Jamie. Addie sacrifices her happiness to keep Jamie happy. She knows that with time, Jamie will get over losing Louis but she cant allow him to lose her; she cannot allow herself to lose him. Through all this, she is deeply saddened to lose her special connect with Louis as this summer, she found true happiness, with Louis and