Thursday, July 10, 2008
Discussion Question #8
Okay are you ready for my take on this??? :) I think on some level Rosemary reminded David of his sister June. There is actually a description of her eating eggs the way that his sister June had eaten her eggs. I think that him thinking of Rosemary as June allowed for him to be open and honest with her. I mean... she was the one person who knew who he really was ( I am talking about June) She knew that he was David Henry McAllister. I think he took care of her for many different reasons. First of all, she was pregnant with no one to take care of her... He would take care of her as penance for not taking care of Norah after the birth of their daughter Phoebe. He could assuage his guilt by making sure that Rosemary, who was down on her luck, was provided for... you know back in those days... if you got pregnant out of wedlock as they called it, you were shunned. You in many cases were sent away just like he tried to send Phoebe away. The difference is that once you had the baby you could re-enter society. With Down's Syndrome, you did not have that choice if you were sent to an institution. So... I think this gave David a "way" to fix his decision regarding Phoebe. I also think that since subsequent to him bringing Rosemary home he divorces Norah, he gets to "re-capture" what he lost with Paul. He could never connect with Paul because he felt so guilty...He connected with Rosemary's son. He took great pleasure in watching him grow.
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This book is really good!! It really shows how the events in your life can lead you in directions you never thought of! Ok I must go back. First David went to speak at an event that was showcasing his photography not knowing he was going to see Caroline. This is what gets the events rolling. When he spoke to Caroline about her life and Phoebe's life, and then she disappeared, I think he mentally lost it! He was lost again. He had been living a lie, regretting his decision of giving Phoebe away, not knowing how to fix it even though his family were suffering, he just lost it. He had to go back to where it all started, the place he ran away from-HOME! He relived almost his entire life from the point he allowed his name to be changed, so he could live a life without burden, to his sister dying and the grief he never dealt with. Now he is tied up by Rosemary who reminds him of himself a little because she is ruuning away from her family. He connected to her. He felt comfortable telling her things he had not shared with anyone because she was where he once was. Only it was a little different. Rosemary had no intentions of changing her identity, she just refused to live the lie her parents wanted her to live. On the other hand, David ran away from his past to live a lie. I think he admired her strength to not live a lie and to be true to herself, which he never was. I thing he shared information about himself for two reasons: One because he was tired of lying and two, I don't think he wanted her to make the same mistakes he did. I think the second reason is why he took care of her. He saw for the first time he could really help and protect someone wholeheartedly without skeltons coming out of the closet. He tried to protect Paul from the things he suffered as a child but failed because of the lie. He was now in a position to protect Rosemary and it was built on honesty. He was able to have a true relationship with her. Not necessarily father and daughter, but a mutual relationship built out of respect and honesty. I think he even encouraged her to reconnect with her family even though it does not say he was instumental in doing that. He was helping her live a life that was true to herself. When she left, he was alone and the burden of still not being able to make things right led him to having a heart attack. Stress will do that!
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