Lucille's Housekeeping: Transformity Vs. Freedom

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In Housekeeping, the idea of conformity versus freedom is represented in characters like Lucille and Ruth respectively as they choose to take different paths in life; Lucille chooses to conform to the societal standards, while Ruth chooses to become a transient and connect with nature.
In Housekeeping, the idea of freedom is symbolically represented in one’s connection to nature and the lifestyle of a transient. In the instance where Sylvie and Ruth decide to burn their belongings, Sylvie’s unorthodox housekeeping was explained as “she considered accumulation to be the essence of housekeeping, and because she considered the hoarding of worthless things to be proof of a particular scrupulous thrift” (180). The idea behind Sylvie’s incompetence in the field of Housekeeping shows her ideology, as she does not place value into physical objects and views the idea of property as simply worthless. Not placing value into her belongings shows an unorthodox view on property, one that departs on the societal notion where belongings emphasize one’s status. This quote relates to the book of Fences, in a differencing sense as the family particularly emphasizes the belongings, especially their house. Additionally, an important moment in Ruth’s acceptance of a transient lifestyle comes when “you do not resist the cold, but simply relax and accept it, you no longer feel the cold as discomfort. [She] felt giddily free and eager, as you do in dreams, when you suddenly find that you can fly, very easily, and wonder why you have never tried it before. I might have discovered other things. For example, [she] was hungry enough to begin to learn that hunger has its pleasures, and I was happily at ease in the dark, I could feel that I was breaking the te...

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...nfluence of society on Lucille, as seen in her desire the ‘look the way one was supposed to look’. As Lucille attempts to integrate and conform into society, she becomes increasingly attached to her physical image, while Ruth describes her own appearance to be ungainly and awkward. Lucille’s attachment to keeping a favorable image symbolizes her conformity and displays the theme of emphasizing physical objects and images. This idea connects with the book, One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, as the patients there who are not committed are scared to enter the real world due to their lack of confidence in their image and their acceptance into reality becomes a fear that hinders their consciousness, for example Billy Bibbit, and would rather stay in the ward. All in all, the theme of emphasizing physical objects and images relate to Lucille’s conformity towards society.

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