The Effects of a Family Breakup in "A Thousand Acres"

Jane Smiley uses the characters' changing personalities and attitudes in A Thousand Acres to demonstrate the major effect the break up of a family can have on people. Many of the characters change through the novel with some becoming more insular and others becoming more outspoken.

One of the main people to change in the novel is Ginny. However she still has one major factor that remains throughout the novel - she worries about people. In Chapter 28 when she first sees her father after him staying at Harold's she says that the sight of him "startled" her. Also she immediately says to Rose "look at him." This shows that she is still caring for people and shows her pity. This is constant throughout the novel as she always made the breakfast for Larry and worried when he had a crash in his car. The first part of the chapter is on Ginny's description of Larry's dishevelled look and she describes not only his clothing and hair but also his "demeanour." This shows that she is watching him quite closely and suggest that she still worries about after all that has been said.

In this chapter Ginny is still worried about what other people think of her and the family as, when Harold and Larry are talking to other people she says "I longed to hear what he was saying...." She says this as if she is worried about what he might be saying about her and rose and the sense of shame is still upon her. This is a continuation of the behaviour she showed earlier in the novel when she was worried about what people would think of the family after Caroline's performance in the play as a young girl, "whispered horror over the coming humiliation." Ginny is still quite loyal to Larry as she doesn't want to look like she is plotting against him when she...

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...y and ignores her. "I took another two steps, but he clearly backed away." Ginny describes Larry's voice as "tentative" which is completely different to what it used to be as he used to have an "aggressive rumble." This demonstrates his fragility and senility.

Larry demonstrates his need to cling to somebody throughout the novel first with Rose and Ginny and later with Harold and Caroline. This suggests that under his gruff exterior he is actually lonely.

This chapter leads you to believe that Larry has in actual fact not lost his mind but that it is a ploy to gain sympathy as right at the very end when Rose and Ginny run out a "look of sly righteousness spread over his face." This does not describe a man who is losing his mind and does not know where he is, it actually describes someone who planned a scene knowing the effect it would have on his daughters.