Is Housekeeping A Pessimistic Novel example essay topic

Is Housekeeping a pessimistic novel? In my point of view, Housekeeping is a pessimistic novel. It is a novel written by Marilyn Robinson to inform us the poverty and the suffering of the world. As other people have argued, housekeeping is not a pessimistic novel as the negative things often turn into positive things. Although sometimes a negative thing can turn into a positive thing, we are not reading the novel for "the fun of it". It is only forced to realize that there is still beauty in the world when people have experienced or have seen the horrors in the world and have suffered in pain.

It could also be read as that for every optimistic result, there are always pessimistic circumstances. Having many pessimistic scenes has made the novel pessimistic and positive things don't necessarily make it better. Many unfortunates have happened in Housekeeping and have often made it depressing for the reader to read. I have to admit; it is the first book that I have ever read that contains so many deaths and sad separations. To be honest, the question "Is Housekeeping a pessimistic novel" cannot be answered correctly. Other students have done an outstanding job with tremendous effects to analyze this question.

This is just my point of view. The following is a list of things, which I find pessimistic. I have made points and quotes under each title and have explained "the society's view on transients" in detail. -How Grandfather and Helen's escaped from this world It is sad to see that the world is so unfriendly. Instead of leaving this world, Robinson has purposely described their deaths as "escaped from this world."Edmund Foster... who escaped this world years before I entered".

Ruth views her world as a prison. -Grandma's death, Nona and Lily's farewell More death in the family leaving Ruth and Lucille to Sylvie -Ruth finding the world beautiful Discovered the beauty as she has suffered pain and loss It was very interesting to see how a transient can be happy and in chapter 10 as Ruth explains to us: "I learned an important thing in the orchard that night, which was that if you do not resist the cold, but simply relax and accept it, you no longer feel the cold as discomfort". Pg 204 and "I was hungry enough to begin to learn that hunger has its pleasures, and I was happily at ease in the dark... ". Pg 204 The two quotes are basically telling us that when someone has suffered and felt the pain of something, they are always able to find pleasure in it. I think it is quite depressing to see this kind of 'beauty'.

-Ruth and Lucille's separation Family tree totally collapse Never to see each other again. -Sylvie and Lucille forced to burn the house and drift away from Fingerbone Cannot stand any memories, leaving a horrible place to find other beauty of the world. Although their grandpa built the house, there are many bad memories in it and it is just cruel to live in it. For example, instead of describing their grandmother's belongings as priceless, she says it is horrible when she looks at it closely as it turns into evil objects. -The society's view on transients "Why do you get involved with such trash people? It's embarrassing...

I wouldn't say 'trashy', Lucille. She didn't strangle anyone" I thought this quote represents the many pessimistic atmospheres in the novel because it shows Lucille's (and the rest of the society's view) towards transients. This quote also shows the miss link between Sylvie and Lucille and how Lucille is getting tired of not being looked after. In this quote, Sylvie has apparently missed Lucille's meaning of 'trashy people'.

Lucille meant that transients are trashy people but Sylvie thought that Lucille meant people with crimes are transients. Through out the book, it has been expressed that transients are the lower class of the society, even though they are people without crimes. "We went inside for lunch, and when we came out again, she was a dog-yellowed stump in which neither of us would admit any interest". pg 61 For instance, when Lucille and Ruth built the snow woman dressed like Sylvie could very well represents transients and the 'dog-yellowed stump' could symbolize the society's view on transients. The society has looked down on them and has cut them out of the rest of the world. .".. hoboes made a practice of whisking children under their coats and carrying them off". A normal housekeeper like their grandmother has used transients as 'the big bad wolf' to scare Ruth and Lucille.

Obviously their grandmother has meant well but we get the view of why the people in Fingerbone are nervous towards transients, as they don't know anything about them and they were told since when they were little that they are people to stay away from. Different people have different views towards transience. People who does good housekeeping thinks they are the scrap of society and looks down upon them. I find the way in which no one's equal in the society; all the pain and suffering in the society and the way it is so complicated in the society very pessimistic.