Marilyne Robinson's Themes In Housekeeping By Marilynne Robinson

Throughout Marilynne Robinson’s works, readers are often reminded of themes that defy the status quo of popular ideas at the time. She explores transience and loneliness, amongst other ideas as a way of expressing that being individual, and going against what is deemed normal in society is acceptable. Robinson utilizes traditional literary devices in order to highlight these concepts.

Countless times throughout Robinson’s work, the idea of the home is used as a way to contrast society’s views, and what it means to the characters of Robinson’s novels. In Robinson’s most famous novel Housekeeping, two young girls experience life in a home built by their grandfather, but altered by every person that comes to care for them. After their mother

She explores the theme of transience as a way to yet again highlight society and the individual. In her novel Housekeeping she uses Lucille as a representation of society and thus compares Ruth and Lucille, and Sylvia and Lucille. She compares society to the individual, showing the clear contrast between both elements, while simultaneously influencing the reader to see the better in being individual. She does this by creating symbols out of her characters and providing a comparison between them and society, and by doing so shows the individual in a better light. The theme of transience is often explored through the influence of other characters. In Housekeeping Sylvie is seen as a “wanderer”, and this outlook is one that influences Ruth as she grows up. As stated in Anne-Marie Mallon’s literary criticism “Transients and runaways are not among society 's favored or fortunate... like the townsfolk of Fingerbone, we believe that people and things--like children, relationships, jobs, and houses--need to be made secure” (Mallon). But this idea is opposed by Sylvie as a wanderer. When Sylvie arrives it is evident that she is not one to stay in the same place for a long period of time. As Ruth watches her she states that her habits are “Clearly the habits of a transient”( Housekeeping 103). Ruth watches her in awe of her individualism, she hopes that she will be able

The novel is written in the form of letters from a dying father. Although he knows death is inevitable, death is an idea presented with optimism. Literary critic, Susan Petit’s argues that Ames even looks at death like “going home”(Gilead 4) and that “only at the end of his life does he feel at home in the world”

(Petit). Death is used as a way to express not just another home, but also that that life continues on after death. To the characters in her novels, death is seen as something not to fear. She uses the deaths of many characters to symbolize a beginning in the end. She highlights the ideas of death through these letters, and through the tone that Ames gives off about his inevitable death. With the use of these characters and their point of view and tone towards death, Robinson concludes that there is in fact some hope in death, and her audience should feel that