Many times I have expressed my ideas on coming of age. I believe coming of age is when you find yourself, when you finally find the true you. A lot of the time we won't know that we've come of age until we actually reflect on our life and think "hey, this was a big milestone in my life that helped me find myself" (or at least some version of that, everyone's realizations are probably different). I think this is very much what Housekeeping is representing, a reflection on one's life.
Housekeeping seems to be told from the point of view of future Ruth. As one reflects on their life, they tend to remember important events or moments that effected them in some meaningful way. In this book I think that is exactly what is being depicted. Future Ruth is showing us milestones in her life that shaped her as a person. With each moment, we see Ruth begin to realize who she is or who she wants to be. We watch as important people come and go in her life and change her in some way.
The most important person in this process (at least I think so) is Sylvie. Ruth is someone who tends to follow others, tries to be like them, and Sylvie is a prime example of that. Sylvie leads Ruth through many stages in her life, and she helps Ruth find herself and figure out who she wants to be.
And I think in some ways the situation worked the other way around too. Ruth changed Sylvie's life significantly as well. Someone mentioned in class "this is the first thing Sylvie has tried to keep ahold of" (in reference to Sylvie's relationship with Ruth). Sylvie tries to be a more responsible person in someways (like when she attempts to clean things and such) and I think that is an important thing to think about while reading the book.
This novel is truly a coming of age novel, someone reflecting on their life and showing us their coming of age experience through moments in their life that were influential to them as a person.
I completely agree that Housekeeping is clearly a coming of age novel-- even more so than some of the others we've read. Catcher and Portrait and even Bell Jar (though the narration is promising) all end on somewhat uncertain footing, where as Ruth by the end seems utterly self-assured and content in her transience. Not only that, she has been so free to deviate from the beaten path in her search for herself, we can be somewhat confident that she was not forced into any particular way of being. One could argue that Sylvie pulled Ruth over to transience instead of it being a decision on her part, but (as evidenced by Lucille) she had many opportunities to deviate from Sylvie's way of life and she chose not to. I was very satisfied with the ending. I think that if she had been snatched back by housekeeping society, it would have been much less clear if she had come of age.
ReplyDeleteI also thought that Sylvie pretty much influenced Ruth to become who she did, but I still think that Sylvie could have done a better job of changing for Ruth (and Lucille). This novel showed that coming of age can happen in different ways (and at different ages) and I liked that about it.
ReplyDeleteYou make a really good point here, which we didn't explore much in class, that we can see *Sylvie* being affected by this experience of "housekeeping" and quasi-motherhood in a similar way as the girls are. It's not that she's radically altered, but she does try to "hold on," to the house, to Ruth (and Lucille, if she were willing), to not "break up a family." And when she and Ruth cross the bridge, it's crucial that she brings Ruth along--they are an alternative kind of family, and they do remain together. Early on, Ruth's biggest fear is that Sylvie will just wander off one day (or fall off the bridge). They don't keep the house, but Sylvie keeps Ruth--and goes to significant lengths to do so. We can look at this as Sylvie's "coming of age" as well, perhaps.
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