1. What do you think of the main characters? How would you describe them?
Bobby, I feel, is the most selfless of the group, the most ready/willing to adapt. He is constantly seeking a family – after the loss of his brother, his family unit breaks down – his mother kills herself and his father turns to drink. So he “attaches” himself to Jonathan’s family. When his family home is completely destroyed in the fire, he moves in with Jon’s family permanently. When he returns to the site of the burnt house (towards the end of the book), he tries to remember the location of the rooms. He loves playing the Hendersons, and he is the one to suggest that they settle down in the country, which he thinks of leaving as a legacy to his daughter. Bobby lives in “another” world – very often he seems detached from what is going on, however, he gels the group, he is most in tune with what the others are feeling. His previous losses help him cherish what he has.
Jonathan is constantly seeking happiness. His mother suffocates him as a child, however, we hardly learn anything about his feelings for her; it was his father he adored. He has fond memories of his father (remembers how he used to carry him on his shoulders, the feeling of his skin, etc) I think Ned was more accpeting of Jon’s sexuality than Alice, who never quite accepted that her son is gay. When Ned and Jon speak in Arizona, it is Ned who sets him thinking about settling down, inviting him to find a “place” where he is comfortable with himself. I’m not sure how to term his relationship with Erich – they see each other for a number of years but they don’t commit to each other. He is terrified of catching his illness, and only at the very end (the pond scene) does he fully accept him. He is quite mean when he first speaks to him (Erich) about his appearance due to his illness.
Clare does not want to grow old. Thanks to her inheritance, she can be free to “flow” through life - she doesn’t hold a “solid” job, she floats through relationships... I think she is a very fickle person who wants to have the cake and eat it. She remodels Bobby to her liking, and uses him to get the thing she wants – having a baby before she gets too old. To say her relationship with Alice is stiff is an understatement. Only when she has her child do I manage to associate with her and understand her actions. As a mother she feels her love and sense of protection for her daughter overwhelm her (which she describes as a “monster”). While she cares for Erich, she is only really interested in her daughter’s wellbeing. I understand her decision to move away, even if I don’t completely agree with it.
Alice is a bitter lady – she marries in haste to spite her parents, and then she repents at leisure. I cannot understand how she can tell her son that she doesn’t want her baby, the daughter she then looses. She resents any friendship Jon has outside of their own – as a child she keeps him home with her; as an adult she dislikes his friends, in fact she has no good word to say either about Bobby or Clare. I kept expecting her to do something weird (like Maureen I thought she would sleep with Bobby), though I must say the fact that she helps Bobby in his first catering venture “redeems” her in a way...