Dysfunctional Relationships In Richard Russo's 'Empire Falls'

It is a common idea that “there’s plenty of time to prepare”, although there will always be situations that cannot be prepared for and that nobody sees coming. In a way, believing that one is prepared for everything is dangerous, as events that have not been prepared for are more likely to catch one off guard. In his novel, Empire Falls, Richard Russo prophesizes the fatality of the belief that “there’s plenty of time to prepare” by using the characters and their relationships to prove that family dysfunction will always upset the balance of life as a family and each member’s individual life, regardless of any planning to the contrary.

The Whiting men claim to have a curse of marrying women that make them miserable; another trend which one

Miles Roby and his wife, Janine, have a tenuous marriage before Janine has an affair and eventually leaves Miles for Walt Comeau. While neither is particularly happy after their split, the majority of the emotional trauma falls on their teenage daughter, Christina “Tick” Roby, who resents her mother for leaving her father, but resents even more so, Walt Comeau-- her soon-to-be step-father. Tick’s hatred manifests in the climax the subplot involving her and her mother. When Janine says, “Maybe it would cheer me up to know my own daughter liked me,” Tick Replies, “Walt isn’t cheering you up?” (420). Janine’s choices to cheat on and then divorce Miles tears a rift in her relationships with Miles and their daughter, creating a dysfunctional family. Nobody gets married with the plan to divorce, although planning cannot always help; divorces are messy and often leave loved ones hurt in their

It is no wonder that John Voss had mental issues after the abuse that he suffers through as a child by the hands of his parents and peers. His parents, drug dealers and users were often annoyed at their children and decided to remove the nuisance in unethical and horrific ways: “... it had been their havit to stuff him into a laundry bag and pull the string tight and hang him on the back of the closet door, where he could kick and scream to his heart’s content … sometimes they’d forget all about him, fall asleep, and leave him hanging there all night” (403). Of course, a child whom is subjected to this kind of treatment on a regular basis while growing up typically has quite a few mental health issues because of it. In fact, results of a 2005 study at Radford University found that “childhood abuse among the serial killer population is higher than the general population across all types of abuse … 36% suffered physical abuse, 26% sexual abuse, 50% psychological abuse, 18% neglect” (Guy). After reading of John Voss’s abuse the high school principal, Otto Meyer Jr., heads to the boy’s house to talk to his grandmother. Otto discovers that the grandmother no longer lives there and calls the police, who later find the old woman’s body amongst dog corpses, decaying in the landfill. The townspeople are shocked and rumors quickly spread; more shocking to the