Passage: “He noticed the children less and less. He was hardly a father except in the vocational sense, as a potter with clay to be molded. Their individual laughter he couldn’t recognize, now their anguish. He never saw how Adah chose her own exile; how Rachel was dying for the normal life of slumber parties and record albums she was missing. And poor Leah. Leah followed him like an underpaid waitress hoping for the tip. It broke my heart. I sent her away from him on every pretense I knew. It did no good.”
Orleanna expresses how Nathan’s work with the Congo has clearly taken over his role as a father, and although she does not mention it, a husband as well. It is interesting, after hearing what each of these girls express in their own chapters, what their mother picks up on. Nathan is clearly classified a self-centered, stubborn, inconsiderate man. Although he was probably not the best father before they all adventured into Africa, he doesn’t even recognize them anymore. He considers Leah more of an accomplice, rather than daughter, and cannot bring himself to demonstrate any emotion toward his family except anger. At this point, I don’t know why Orleanna has not picked up and left her husband yet; why should she remain loyal to him when he does not give an ounce back to his family, although the tribe will receive him whole heartedly?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment