Light Vs. Dark In Housekeeping By Marilynne Robinson

Goodness verses evil is how most novels portray light verses dark. Marilynne Robinson challenges this idea in her novel Housekeeping by changing the roles of light and dark. Light, in her novel, represents a normal life as Lucille, the protagonist’s sister, chooses to endorse. Darkness is portrayed as a source of enlightenment and a path to an abnormal life which Ruth, the protagonist, and Sylvie, the protagonist’s aunt, embrace. In the novel Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson, the main characters, Ruth and Lucille, have to choose their lifestyle as a normal one in the light, or one that is unique in the dark.

In the novel, light is used as a symbol of a normal life that is dictated by the normality of society. This is illustrated when Ruth

Sylvie was the original person to embrace the darkness. When she arrived, the sisters immediately noticed how Sylvie would eat “supper in the dark” (Robinson 86). Typically, when eating, people turn on the light so that they can see the food they are eating. Sylvie on the other hand would keep it off so because she believed that the moonlight was good enough. Robinson illustrates the stark distinction in the way Sylvie runs her life and the way society expects her to. Ruth eventually comes to term with Sylvie’s methods of living and is reborn when she realizes that “the only true birth would be … one which would free [her] from watery darkness and the thought of watery darkness” (Robinson 162). Darkness in this context is losing oneself and having to find their way back. Robinson is saying that once you find serenity in this world, you will be reborn and will never lose your way again. This is significant because this is a deciding moment for Ruth and she has to make a decision as to who she wants to be as she grows older. This is something that is relatable to most people, where they go through an event which gives them an idea of who they want to be as they