Homesick Restaurant Thesis

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National English Honor Society
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant Scholarship Essay
17 January, 2017
They All Ate and Were Satisfied Food, a need for some and a guilty pleasure for others. Certain food releases serotonin, a chemical messenger, into the brain and is rumored to increase moods. For someone that is not properly nourished and not receiving serotonin, they technically are not feeling the joy food can give. The focus on food in Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant shows the importance of love in a family and the factors that are needed to raise children. By focusing on food it shows what each character is lacking and what they are “craving”. Nourishment is a side dish for the main dish- love.
Cody and Jenny receive the worst end of …show more content…

As described by Cody “he ate heartily…he was a feeder” (Tyler 161). Ezra’s love for food may come from, other than him being naturally “good”, Mrs. Scarlatti. She is the one that nourished him and supported him, rather than his own mother. Which can be the reason behind why “she spoke of Mrs. Scarlatti distrustfully, even jealously” (Tyler 115). Ezra is the only one who got to experience something close to the kind of love a mother can give. Ezra is naturally drawn to people who are “feeders”. He enjoys the company of Mr. Purdy, the produce deliverer for Scarlatti’s, explaining “only [he] knew that inwardly, there was something nourishing and generous about him. Mr. Purdy rejoiced in food as much as he did, and for the same reasons- less for eating himself than for serving to others” (Tyler 117). Although Ezra is unmarried with no children, he seems to be content with his life as he continues to feed others and attempts to feed his …show more content…

Whether it was because “she cooked in her hat, most of the time” (Tyler 160) or “whenever there was a family argument, she most often chose to start it over dinner” (Tyler 160), Pearl’s inability to nourish her children is what leads to their emptiness and “lack of ability to enjoy [themselves]” (Tyler 161). The Tull family’s inability to finish a family dinner is majorly Pearl’s fault since she did not raise them to do such things. Instead of using the dinner table as a chance to talk and reflect on how everyone’s life is going, Pearl uses it to destroy her children. Over dinner is where she throws her harshest insults and inflicts the most abuse on her children when they are growing up. This abuse is why Cody and Jenny unconsciously avoid coming together for Ezra’s family dinners, and this is supported by Pearl’s death since that is the only time where they really sit through a whole dinner together. Most people look toward the mother of the family to be the main cook because they see women as more nurturing or caring. Naturally, women are seen as “feeders” as “givers”. Pearl Tull’s children lack in different parts of their lives because she did not “give” them anything useful. The phrases “givers”, “eaters”, and “enjoyers” can be directed to identify different characters of the book and how their relationship with food correlates to their relationship with

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