Marilynne Robinson's Housekeeping

Marilynne Robinson’s novel Housekeeping, is a thoughtful account of two sisters who are forced at a young age to cope with abandonment, loss, and uncertainty. Ruth and Lucille are left abandoned with their grandmother after their mother’s death. Their grandmother had already lost her husband, and later after obtaining her grandchildren she keeps a strict house and raises them with a firm hand. After she dies, her two eccentric sisters- in- law take over. They find the job unappealing and send for the girls’ aunt Sylvie and she comes to care for them. At this point in the novel, Ruth and Lucille have already faced significant losses. The deaths of their mother and grandmother. The faced abandonment after their father left them when they were

Her account is looking back at the events in her childhood, and little dialogue is seen until twenty pages into the novel. Most of the action is simple descriptions by Robinson. It is also interesting to note the strong feminist ideals that are presented in the novel. At the half way point into it, there has not been a significant male character that lives. The grandfather dies at the very beginning and we never see much of him, Reginald Stone the father of the protagonist is absent. The novel is packed with a variety of female characters that contrast each other. The grandmother is a strong and faithful women, Lily and Nona are spinsters and enjoy a routine, Sylvie is married but husband is absent and she doesn’t have any idea how to raise children, and Helen abandons her children. All the women are a contrast to the social decorum of women in society. As a reader, much sympathy is extended towards Ruth and Lucille, because they have a rough lot, and don’t seem to get any guidance. Both girls are definitely living on the edge because each of them has dealt with loss, abandonment, and