Family in Home by Marilynne Robinson Literary Essay Sample

When someone is asked what they think of when the word ‘family’ comes to mind people tend to say some of the same things, ’love.’ ‘trust,’  ‘memories’, etc. In “Home” by Marilynne Robinson the image of family is painted with a completely different picture. The relationship that the Boughton’s have with one another breaks the mold of what a family is supposed to look and act like. As obscure as the images of this family are, I found that their family reminded me of my very own. 

When looking at each of the Boughtons, one by one each of them reminded me of a member of my own family. Very early on in the novel I came to the realization that Boughton reminded me very much of my grandma. “I’m afraid you children might not be getting along” (Robinson 72). Boughton’s perpetual unease regarding his children’s relationship reminded me of my grandmother’s continual worry about the relationship between my brother and I. Looking back, everytime we would get into a fight I found that my grandmother would get very upset and instead of yelling at us she would lock herself in her room crying. When I confronted her about this issue she relayed to me that us fighting deeply upset her and she worried that we wouldn’t ever get along. I think Boughton shares this same fear regarding Glory and Jack. “Well, whatever the trouble is, I’ll help if I can. I think you must know that by now?” (Robinson 84). His unwavering dedication to giving his children whatever they need and supporting them however they may need is a characteristic my grandmother shares as well. Every time I have been sick, she’s taken care of me regardless of how contagious it is. Any time I needed a shoulder to cry on she was always there for me. It seems that Boughton and my grandma share the need to be benevolent, as they both consistently focus on making sure their children/grandchildren have whatever they need. “Yes, the pleasure of family life are very real” (Robinson 175). Boughton possesses a keen pleasure in all things family related, seeing his children together is almost the light of his life. When I look at my own grandmother I see the same thing in her, as she believes family is more important than anything. When my brother and I left for college this year I realized just how important the connection we had with her was and it encouraged me to work on the relationship I have with my brother. 

When looking at Glory and her character throughout the novel, I was consistently reminded of myself. “Fine. I wouldn’t have bothered you, but he seems to be really uncomfortable this evening. He asked me to read to him, and that lasted about two minutes. I’d have played for him, but he wanted you to do it” (Robinson 113). Anytime Glory needs something from Jack or goes to speak to him she feels guilty for ‘bothering’ him. This reminded me of how I feel when I ask my brother for something or go to talk to him. When I was younger and needed help with homework I always felt guilty for asking him because it always seemed he was annoyed at me for bothering him and it seemed that he didn’t ever have time for me. “Everyone is ignoring me!” she said (Robinson 190), Glory feels ignored and has no sense of place within her family as it seems to her everything is revolving around Jack, even her father focuses on him more than her. I experience this very same sentiment within my own family, as I have always felt like the unwanted one. Growing up with my brother and I being so close in age (11 months apart) I always felt like I had an obligation to live up to him, and teachers would constantly compare us saying things like ‘oh you’re Shawn Brown’s little sister, I expect great things!’ and ‘I bet you are a straight-A student, your brother was!’ This created a sense of resentment within me towards my brother as I resented him for being the chosen child and I see this same sense of resentment forming within Glory throughout the novel as her father consistently focuses on Jack over Glory. “She said, “I have to sit down.” She could hear herself sobbin, and she couldn’t get her breath.” (Robinson 243) Glory loves with all her heart and this is not only apparent throughout the novel but is especially clear with this quote. She gets so upset over not being able to find Jack regardless of the way he treats her she still worries about him like everybody else she loves. I am again reminded of myself here because I share this same passion for others regardless of how they treat me. Whenever my brother is sick, or hurt I am constantly worried about him even though there are times where all he does is tear me down. Throughout the novel, I realized that the relationship that my brother and I had wasn’t extremely different from Glory and Jack’s. 

Looking at Jack throughout the novel I was constantly reminded of my own brother, Shawn. “No, I could always count on him to be pleased with me. From time to time. Often enough. I never understood it myself” (Robinson 75-76). Jack knows that he has his father’s attention and that regardless of what he does his father for whatever reason still is pleased with him in some way. My brother knows this sentiment very well, as he has always had our grandparent’s approval and he has lived his life as the favorite child. While I wouldn’t necessarily say that Jack is the favorite child I would say that he gets his father’s attention more than any of his siblings which is exactly what reminds me of my brother. “It was tap water, really, but the thought is what counts” (Robinson 122). Jack has a clear lack of knowledge when it comes to human emotions, as any person knows that people would rather you be yourself than try to fake something. While I wouldn’t say my brother has a lack of knowledge of human emotions I would say he doesn’t know how to handle them. For example, when I am upset when we fight instead of him trying to calm me down he says something to just get me more riled up. His biggest issue is that he just does not know when to stop so he gets me so upset that I end up having a panic attack and he has no idea what to do. In my opinion, when it comes to emotions men are characteristically not able to understand them like women are and I believe that is why Jack struggles with Glory’s emotions. “I fear I am not in my perfect mind, little sister. I don’t know how to deal with this [...] You have to keep me sober. That’s the first thing” (Robinson 136). Jack is consistently found to be unaccountable, and he is always relying on Glory to fix his mistakes and help him to get out of bad positions. I am reminded of my brother here when it comes to things Shawn is not good at or when he makes a mistake and needs help fixing something I always find him running to me. Everytime, I expect him to be accountable for what he did but instead he always blames it on someone else and oftentimes that person is me. My brother and Jack share this narcissistic habit and I am able to make evident connections between the two throughout the novel.  

Overall, throughout Marilynne Robinson’s “Home” the Boughton family represents a family that closely reminds me of my own. While as I read the novel I thought that the Boughton family had weird connections, when writing this paper I quickly realized just how normal their family was. We see a brother and sister relationship that while it starts out rocky it quickly finds it’s stability which is something we can say siblings all around the world go through. We also see a father that cares almost too much for his children whom he believes are not getting along. All around the world parents put lots of effort into making sure their children are raised right and that they get along with their siblings. Also we continuously see the representation of the child who feels like they aren’t enough and the child who gets whatever they want. When we look through families in our own world with more than one child we can almost always find a child that feels like they aren’t enough and a child who gets whatever they want. In her novel, Marilynne Robinson shows just how complicated of a dynamic a family has and represents different aspects through each character.