Theo Decker has not had an easy life so far. Suffering from the death of his mother, and the trauma of the bombing. In The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, Theo Decker is forced to move in with his abusive father and his alcoholic girlfriend. This move is a serious downgrade from the lavish home of the Barbour’s that he was living in. With the help of his companion Hobie, Theo manages to live with his father, despite the bad environment despite their distance from each other. In this novel, the three most important settings for Theo, is the museum, his father’s house, and Hobie’s apartment.
One of the most talked about settings was that setting of the museum. The Museum is brought about several times throughout the novel, and has great significance to it. Theo is forced to recall the scene of before and after the attack on many occasions. “ Like a drunk, I staggered through the rubbish, weaving and plowing, stepping high-kneed over objects” (Tartt 34). The scene is calm, and almost relaxing before the bombing as Theo and his mother look at and talk about the paintings. After the bomb the scene was gnarled and horrific, very frantic. Theo hit his head, so he was out of it, making the scene seem blurred and dizzy.
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Theo is moved from the Barbour home, which he did like to his dad’s place which is not the most welcoming of households; “There was a lot of drinking going on at my house, on Xandra’s end anyway, a lot of slammed doors” (Tartt 301). Theo was moved from a really great house, to this one. Xandra is Theo’s dad’s girlfriend. Both his dad, and Xandra are heavily into alcohol, which does not make for the best living environment. They both chastise Theo, and he feels so out of place. This home makes him miss his life with his mother even
Darryl’s house isn’t a house, it’s a home and “A man’s home is his castle”, everything he loves and cherishes is inside that house, from his family to the poolroom, worthless junk to anyone but the Kerrigans. The family is so close knit and together the house is apart of it. The poolroom is an example because everything with sentimental value has it’s own very special spot in the poolroom. Darryl also makes everyone in the house feel very appreciated because he’s always giving compliments to his wife and children, “Why would you go to Thailand when you can have this every night?” and when they g...
The family dynamics of the household changed throughout the years of Dominic’s childhood. When Dominic was born, we lived in a rural neighborhood apartment that was not completely safe (My Virtual Child). Once Dominic’s sister Alexandra was born, we began saving more money and purchased a house in a safe rural neighborhood. At the end of Dominic’s childhood the household consisted of both parents and two children, Dominic and Alexandra. Throughout his childhood, his uncle stayed a summer and on another occasion a different uncle stayed for a few weeks. Both parents were employed throughout the entire childhood which resulted in placing Dominic in child-care as soon as possible (My Virtual Child).
After a decade of not seeing his mother and brother, Howard returns to his hometown in Mississippi. It is evident how thrilled he is. As the train approaches town, he begins “to feel curious little movements of the heart, like a lover as he nears his sweetheart” (par. 3). He expects this visit to be a marvelous and welcoming homecoming. His career and travel have kept his schedule extremely full, causing him to previously postpone this trip to visit his family. Although he does not immediately recognize his behavior in the past ten years as neglectful, there are many factors that make him aware of it. For instance, Mrs. McLane, Howard’s mother, has aged tremendously since he last saw her. She has “grown unable to write” (par. 72). Her declining health condition is an indicator of Howard’s inattentiveness to his family; he has not been present to see her become ill. His neglect strikes him harder when he sees “a gray –haired woman” that showed “sorrow, resignation, and a sort of dumb despair in her attitude” (par. 91). Clearly, she is growing old, and Howard feels guilty for not attending her needs for such a long time period: “his throat [aches] with remorse and pity” (par. 439). He has been too occupied with his “excited and pleasurable life” that he has “neglected her” (par. 92). Another indication of Howard’s neglect is the fact that his family no longer owns the farm and house where he grew up. They now reside in a poorly conditioned home:
Chelsea, the daughter of Ethel and Norman, is at a very difficult stage in her life. She has divorced already and is back in the dating game, this time her partner is a dentist named Bill who has a 13 year old son, Billy. Billy stays with her parents while her and Bill travel around Europe, and elope in Brussels, consequently causing her boyfriend’s son to become her step son. Step parent/step children families are becoming increasingly commonplace now. Divorce and remarriage rates are higher now than ever in the past, and with that comes a rise in the blended family. The relationship between Billy and his step mother, Chelsea, seems quite amiable. Though she is an adult now, her father’s acceptance is something that Chelsea has always craved. After returning from Europe, much to her delight and dismay, she learns of how well Billy and her father got on while she was away, despite the initial
...e on her part. Throughout the story, the Mother is portrayed as the dominant figure, which resembled the amount of say that the father and children had on matters. Together, the Father, James, and David strived to maintain equality by helping with the chickens and taking care of Scott; however, despite the effort that they had put in, the Mother refused to be persuaded that Scott was of any value and therefore she felt that selling him would be most beneficial. The Mother’s persona is unsympathetic as she lacks respect and a heart towards her family members. Since the Mother never showed equality, her character had unraveled into the creation of a negative atmosphere in which her family is now cemented in. For the Father, David and James, it is only now the memories of Scott that will hold their bond together.
The brothers live with their parents but they are not average parents, they are drug addicts. They aren 't only drug addicts but they steal all of Michel’s and Bug’s clothes to sell for more drug money, they also don 't purchase any food. The little money and food that they come across they take and once again, his parents either eat it or use it to buy more drugs for themselves. The brothers are basically living on their own. Their parents do not love them or provide for the brothers nevertheless the brothers are considered a burden to his parents. When Michel and Bug come home they feels scared and as if he should not be there, and that is not how one should feel at home, they should be able to walk in the door to a smiling family that shows him unconditional love and provide for him. Not steal their belongings and use what they can to buy drugs and
Narrated by the mother of two daughters, the story opens with an examination of one daughter's favoring of appearances over substance, and the effect this has on her relatives. The mother and her younger daughter, Maggie, live in an impoverished rural area. They anticipate the arrival of the elder daughter, Dee, who left home for college and is bringing her new husband with her for a visit. The mother recalls how, as a child, Dee hated the house in which she was raised. It was destroyed in a fire, and as it was burning, Dee "(stood) off under the sweet gum tree... a look of concentration on her face", tempting her mother to ask, "'why don't you do a dance around the ashes?'" (Walker 91) She expects Dee will hate their current house, also. The small, three-room house sits in a pasture, with "no real windows, just some holes cut in the sides" (Walker 92), and although, as Dee asserts, they "choose to live" in such a place, Dee keeps her promise to visit them (Walker 92). Her distaste for her origins is felt by her mother and Maggie, who, in anticipation of Dee's arrival, internalize her attitudes. They feel to some extent their own unworthiness. The mother envisions a reunion in which her educated, urbane daughter would be proud of her. In reality, she describes her...
Crucet says, “I don’t even remember the moment they drove away,” but unlike the author’s family, mine left after I moved in, they did not stay the whole first week into my classes. After the first day of being alone, I wish they
According to Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, this fictional novel is a group of short stories that blended reality and fiction. Tim O’Brien’s storytelling evokes emotional responses from the audience, and it makes them empathise with the characters’ experience throughout the Vietnam War and after the war. In general, veterans who fought in the war change, and they experience disconnection with their friends and family after the war. Norman Bowker is a teenager who was drafted into the war, and he was one of the only good characters in this story. Through this character, we can see Norman Bowker change as the novel progresses and how war can affect people even when the war is over.
Looking back on the death of Larissa’s son, Zebedee Breeze, Lorraine examines Larissa’s response to the passing of her child. Lorraine says, “I never saw her cry that day or any other. She never mentioned her sons.” (Senior 311). This statement from Lorraine shows how even though Larissa was devastated by the news of her son’s passing, she had to keep going. Women in Larissa’s position did not have the luxury of stopping everything to grieve. While someone in Lorraine’s position could take time to grieve and recover from the loss of a loved one, Larissa was expected to keep working despite the grief she felt. One of the saddest things about Zebedee’s passing, was that Larissa had to leave him and was not able to stay with her family because she had to take care of other families. Not only did Larissa have the strength to move on and keep working after her son’s passing, Larissa and other women like her also had no choice but to leave their families in order to find a way to support them. As a child, Lorraine did not understand the strength Larissa must have had to leave her family to take care of someone else’s
Children living in this type of environment may feel anger, shame, and sadness. They are forced to take on adult roles much earlier because their parents are irresponsible. For instance it shows this in The Glass Castle because the children are forced to make their own meals and fend for themselves because Rex is too busy drinking and Rose Mary is careless (Walls). Alcoholism takes away children’s childhood by forcing them to take on adult roles. Another example of this is when Billy Deel is forced to take care of himself while his father is passed out and constantly drinking, “Billy had a lot of unsupervised time on his hands” (Walls 82). Billy was greatly affected by his father’s alcohol abuse his personality didn’t maturely develop like other children. This is shown when he sexually assaults Jeanette and doesn’t see anything wrong with it, he yells on page 87 “Guess what? I raped you!” (Walls). This statement proves that parents make a huge impact on children, and when children don’t have that, they suffer. Alcohol abuse is not an individual problem, it affects everyone surrounding that person. It isn’t fair for children to be raised in that environment and government should take greater action to protect the children’s safety by removing them from homes like
Ever since she was a young girl. Jeannette had set high goals for herself. Since she was so advanced in school and genuinely enjoyed learning, it made sense that she would want to do big things with her life. Whether it was being a veterinarian or a geologist, her dreams extended far beyond her homes in little desert towns or Welch, West Virginia. However, because of her poverty-stricken home life, many people believed it didn’t seem likely that she would be so successful. One day, while living in Welch, Jeannette goes to the bar to drag her drunk father back home. A neighborhood man offers them a ride back to their house, and on the ride up he and Jeannette start a conversation about school. When Jeannette tells the man that she works so hard in school because of her dream careers, the man laughs saying, “for the daughter of the town drunk, you sure got big plans” (Walls 183). Immediately, Jeannette tells the man to stop the car and gets out, taking her father with her. This seems to be a defining moment in which Jeannette is first exposed to the idea that she is inferior to others. Although this man said what he did not mean to offend her, Jeannette is clearly very hurt by his comment. To the reader, it seems as if she had never thought that her family’s situation made her subordinate to those
For example, his mother. In the text, it says, “This time, struggling with the shaking of her voice, she said, ‘Darling, you do not know what it has been like, all these years.’ By which he understood, finally, that he was not important to her. Not that important” (66). Ian always assumed that his mother’s personality was nothing more, and when she announces that she will be leaving with another man, Ian feels betrayed by her. He does not accept her for putting her own happiness before family, an action he expects any good mother should. Ian also knows that his father wants Ian to stay with him in Struan, even if he says he wants Ian to do what he wants and does not want to tie him down. He thinks to himself, “He looked exhausted. Was he ever going to get over it? And if he didn’t, how could Ian leave him? The thought swamped him with guilt, and the guilt made him angry. You shouldn’t have to feel pop guilty about living your own life. You shouldn’t have to be responsible for your parents’ happiness. It wasn’t fair” (110). Although Ian knows his father is trying his best, he still feels burdened by the pressure his father needs to endure and blames his mother for leaving him. Ian tries his best to do his part and help out at the clinic, but he feels like his own happiness is obstructed by the need to help his
One pleasant afternoon, my classmates and I decided to visit the Houston Museum of Fine Arts to begin on our museum assignment in world literature class. According to Houston Museum of Fine Art’s staff, MFAH considers as one of the largest museums in the nation and it contains many variety forms of art with more than several thousand years of unique history. Also, I have never been in a museum in a very long time especially as big as MFAH, and my experience about the museum was unique and pleasant. Although I have observed many great types and forms of art in the museum, there were few that interested me the most.
In the short story “To Set Our House in Order,” written by Margaret Laurence, the narrator, Vanessa, is an adult looking back at an important event from her childhood. This story represents Vanessa’s grandmother Macleod as a very negative woman who is having so many troubles that her son and his family have moved into her house to help since she can no longer afford a housekeeper when the depression goes bad. In my childhood, my experience with my father was similar to Vanessa’s experience with her grandmother. My father was also a negative person who, I believe, had many troubles in his past life too. In my experience, Grandmother Macleod and my father are very much alike in their controlling, in their