Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Family Dynamics in T.O.D.
I found the family dynamics in this book very interesting. In the other books we have read, mostly we have seen tradition families and marriages. Now we are getting a glimpse at an unconventional family whose motives are yet to be revealed. The Judge's new wife Fay happens to be younger than his own daughter, Laurel, which makes me think that there is more than true love to their relationship. Also, it surprised me that her nasty treatment of Laurel went unnoticed by the judge, or otherwise ignored. I would still like to learn more about Laurel's relationship with her father, even after he has died. What is strange to me is that so far Laurel has made her mother out to be a great person, and although she died, I wonder what caused Judge McKelva to marry someone who is seemingly very different from his dead wife. What do you think of the story so far? Any insights into the relationships between all the characters?
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I agree with Mari that we still have alot to learn about the characters. Unlike "The Moviegoer" when we had Binx's thoughts repeatedly pounded into us through his rampant inner monologues, or AGMIHTF where the stories were so short you knew the characters almost at once, "The Optimist's Daughter" is introducing its characters more slowly. I am most interested to see how the title of the book plays out into the story. So far, there has only been one reference to the 'optimism' of Judge McKelva when he said "Well, I'm an optimist"(10), and died barely a chapter later, from lack optimism. Hopefully the character of Judge McKelva will be more thoroughly revealed in the chapters to come and we will be able to discern whether the title is intended sarcastically or whether there were unknown factors playing out in his deathbed.
ReplyDeleteLike Maddy, I too am interested in why the title of the book refers to Laurel as the Optimist's Daughter, which seems to indirectly state that Laurel is not, in fact, an optimist. I found the tone of the book to be positive (or at least not negative, which would reflect the plot) and not at all a bore to read. In going with the point Mari made, we haven't seen much development of anything except how the funeral was carried out, and personally I am hoping to learn more about Fay, because despite her unappealing character I'm intrigued by her actions. I mean, leaving with her family to temporarily go to Texas is understandable, grief-wise, but manipulating the whole show her way, like having her say in in where he was buried ("How could the biggest fool think I was going to bury my husband with his old wife? He's going in the new part" (90)) just piques my curiosity. Keep it up, Eudora!
ReplyDeleteAs Mari mentioned in her post, the family in The Optimist's Daughter is not exactly conventional or traditional in the sense of the normal south. For instance, Laurel moved about to Chicago to become a designer and the judge remarried someone younger than his daughter. I think the dynamics between Fay and Laurel are very intriguing as it shows a relationship that we haven't seen in any of the other stories, that of step mother and daughter. Furthermore, there are subtle hints class differences and the importance of social status. I think also that this has an important and interesting focus on woman as the main characters are basically Fay, Laurel and Becky who seems like she will play a key role in the optimists daughter's self discovery.
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