Throughout Housekeeping, and more so during later
chapters, I saw a lot of similarities between Lucille and Ruth and their
relationship, as well as that between me and my sister. Obviously Lucille and
Ruth's interactions are a lot more exaggerated than my personal experiences,
and our relationships aren't exactly the same as Lucille and Ruth are very
complex characters, but I did find myself comparing my sister to Ruth and me to
Lucille.
Being the
oldest, I'm definitely a little more independent from the rest of my family
than my sister is. And, I'm a lot less reserved which means that I hold back
less when it comes to speaking my mind if I don't agree with someone else.
Lucille makes it very clear that she disapproves of a lot of Sylvie's ways of
doing things. The most obvious illustration of her independence of from the
family is that she takes the initiative and just leaves. This is, I think, both
detrimental and positive for Ruth. It allows her to become herself more,
without her very vocal sister overshadowing her. It's also never easy to lose
such a close relationship when you don't know how to be on your own and you
don't have a lot of other options to fall back on. When Lucille and Ruth are in
the principal's office, and the principal is concerned about their
"attitudes" for the new school year since they missed half of the
previous year, Lucille does all the talking for Ruth, as noted by the
principal. However, it seems like she's not just putting words in Ruth's mouth.
She's actually expressing what Ruth would want to say. I think Ruth doesn't
want to have to formulate her thoughts and convey them to the principal so she
appreciates having Lucille there to do it.
Once my
sister and I were at a moving away party/sleepover for our friends who were sisters
(I was friends with the older sister, Laura with the younger, and they were
having a joint party). A girl at the party was making fun of my sister in some
way that I don't remember, but I stepped in and yelled at her and made her back
the fuck off and feel really bad (she was a bully in general). Laura probably
would've wanted to say something similar, probably in a less aggressive manner,
but was too timid. She was extremely grateful that I did that and still looks
up to me for it. The only reason I know the story is because she still brings
it up-- I have no recollection of it actually happening.
I could
talk about Laura and I vs. Ruthie and Lucille for a very long time, this is
just the tip of the iceberg, but I wanted to jot down some thoughts that seemed
interesting.
I did think it was interesting how Lucille was more commanding than Ruth despite the fact that she was younger. By the end of the novel I could see that Ruth's reserved nature is part of her transient personality. One of the things that stuck me the most in Housekeeping was the deterioration of Ruth and Lucille's relationship. I still have the image of them ice skating together and yet separated from everyone else in my head. They represented a sibling ideal, something that I reflected upon with my own siblings. Their separation and diverging personalities by the end of the novel was very worrisome for me. If something like that can happen to the sibling ideal, then it can definitely happen to more rocky and unstable sibling relationships.
ReplyDeleteThat scene in the principal's office is interesting. Ruth is clearly a quiet kid at this point in her life, and she repeatedly describes how uncomfortable it makes her to be noticed in any way. Lucille speaks for her in part out of consideration for this fact--it's something she's better at, and she's getting her sister off the hook, looking out for her. But there's also a slightly impatient tone here, as if she's increasingly exasperated by her sister's failure to seem "normal." She makes excuses for Ruth, and makes promises on her behalf, and there's an audible undertone that she'd rather not be answering for her sister as well as herself.
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