I have to admit, the ending wasn’t quite what I thought it might be. For Henry’s sake, I’m happy he and Lelia got back together and seemed much happier pursuing his life as a “Speech Monster.” I think this attachment and the fulfillment he felt with this job was solely based on Mitt and being around children who remindind him of his son. The line, “WHen I embrace them, half pick them up, they are just that size I will forever know, that very weight so wondrous to me, and awful” has such a significant meaning but is so hard to imagine feeling that emotion (349). I think it’s amazing for Henry’s character to be able to even move on with his life with some type of normalacy after losing a child, let alone for both parents to be surrounded by children that are just like the one they lost.
Culture seemed to play a major role throughout this novel. One of the most interesting lines I thought on commenting aboutAmericans was, “They are every shape and color but they still share this talk, and this is hte other tongue they have learned, this must be the special language” (340). I think this signifies how racially and culturally different Americans may be, yet we are all united under the English language and united in the same country.
Overall, I really enjoyed this novel and its many complexities with things that were understood on the surface and things I had to dig a little bit deeper for. This is one of those novels I wish there was a sequel to because I want to know what comes of the relationship with Henry and Lelia, do they stay together, do they have another child? Maybe I missed something within the text, but I just wish I had some more answers..
I really like that quote you picked starting with “When I embrace them…” because I could just feel the emotion that Henry was feeling, “They are just that size I will forever know…” the emotion is raw and yet gives the reader the feeling that perhaps Henry and Lelia will be able to move on from the death of Mitt, never forgetting because of their jobs, but having the ability to not be devastated for the rest of their lives.
Comment by kelseycarmela — April 1, 2009 @ 12:46 pm