Diner At The Homesick Resteraunt

The Humorous aspect of Dinners

Dinners are solemn and unrealistic without a comical aspect to create a warm, friendly mood. Although the dinners in Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant are unfinished and represent a family in crisis, Anne Tyler incorporates humor to make the situations seem more realistic and palatable. The first groups of dinners that occur when the children are still young are marked by violence and hostility. Pearl, still distraught by the desertion of her husband, seems to take her anger out on her children. These meals are solemn and austere. Secondly, the dinners at the Homesick Restaurant are more realistic and normal because of the humorous aspect that is integrated into the solemn dinners. As Bennett puts it, Tyler transcends the ordinary plots and characters and in her humor we see the more comic situations (Bennett 1). Cody is very good at relieving the tension of the dinners with his sarcasm and humorous comments. Thirdly, the final dinner, which is also marked by comic relief, leaves the reader wondering if the Tull family can, at last, finish a dinner. Even though it seemed to end in turmoil, the reader is left wondering if Cody can bring his father back to the dinner table and if the Tull's can salvage what is left of their family. Although the dinners in Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant are unfinished and represent a family in crisis, Anne Tyler incorporates humor to make the situation seem more realistic and palatable.

The dinners that occur at the beginning of the novel are solemn, austere and are not characteristic of a realistic family. Pearl, feeling the tension of a single parent who has to take on a full time job, takes out her anger on her children during the various dinners they have. In her quest for perfection, Pearls disappointments in her children fester into rage (Schaeffer 2). First, it apparent that the dinners are not a joyous time when at one particular dinner, Pearl took a "bowl of peas and brought it down on Ezra's head," (53) after she had come home from work and the children had, once again, disappointed her with their behavior. This is not how a wholesome dinner should be carried out. This type of physical abuse by Pearl is almost disturbing and it is a disheartening thought to know that the dinner was ended with "Jenny's face streaming with tears" (52). A mother and child relationship coincides with the husband and wife relationship (Spector 4). If the relationship between the husband and wife is good, the relationship between the mother and child is generally a healthy and wholesome one (Spector 4). Likewise, if the husband and wife relationship is hostile, then the mother child relationship will, in turn, be a hostile and even violent relationship (Spector 4). Beck may have more to blame for Pearl's hostile behavior than is realized. Secondly, another disheartening scene is observed when the Tull's celebrate Thanksgiving. A realistic family dinner would be lighthearted and a grand experience for the whole family, Thanksgiving being a time to be thankful and rejoice. However, the Tull's Thanksgiving is described as a "meager meal- no turkey," (72) which is also disheartening to think that any family should have to experience Thanksgiving without a turkey. It is not a realistic, normal dinner by any means and makes the family seem incomplete. Thirdly, after the two boys had grown up and left the house, when Pearl and Jenny were left alone by themselves, Pearl became so afraid of her mother that she even experienced nightmares of Pearl as a witch. When they would have dinner together, Pearl would make small talk about Jenny's friends because she is obsessed with appearances, instead of addressing serious issues, such as abusing Jenny (Schaeffer 2). Jenny called this "safely skating over whatever might lie beneath," (70) referring to her mother ignoring the fact that she would "throw Cody down a set of stairs, or slam Jenny against a wall" (70). This is also disturbing to know that Pearl is almost in denial about her abusive behavior and unwillingness to address situations that cause the family so much turmoil during meals. Pearl fears that her children will grow up to be improper and ill-mannered which causes her to make her children's lives miserable and makes them never feel truly "at home" hence the title of the novel (Spector 5). This is certainly not the dinner behavior of a normal realistic family.

The Homesick Restaurant dinners or the second phase of the Tull family dinners are marked by verbal humor which contributes to making the dinners more palatable and normal. First, when the Tull's go to Scarlotti's for their first family dinner, the verbal irony is used to lighten the solemn dinner. Ezra sets up the dinner to tell his mother that he has just secured a partnership in the restaurant business and that he is succeeding financially, which should be music to any mother's ears, but not Pearl's (Henningfeld 2). To make matters worse, the comical Mrs. Scarlotti "waltzes" (93) into the room "as if she had been waiting on cue" (93) at the absolute worst time to enter now that Peal has heard the news. The whole situation is marked by irony now that Ezra has succeeded financially and yet his mother is displeased with him. The fact that the partnership is purchased for one dollar by Ezra is also comically ironic because of course, partnerships are not that cheap. These events provide comic relief to a stressful and tense dinner which gives it a more realistic aspect and makes it more normal. Secondly, during the next dinner that the Tull family experiences at Scarlotti's, Cody's sarcasm and humor runs rampant through the course of the dinner. After Ezra makes a big deal about the soup being cold, Cody inquires if Ezra will have fresh hot soup "brought in by barefoot runners?" (109) lightening the mood of the tense dinner with his sarcasm while poking fun at Ezra's desire for the perfect dinner. This helps to ease the tension between Pearl and Jenny due to the fact that Pearl now believes Jenny to be a tramp. Soon after this, Cody again comes to the rescue to lighten the rescue to lighten the mood with his sarcastic humor when Pearl catches Jenny talking to Josiah. When Ezra inquires as to why Pearl just stormed out of the restaurant, Cody replies "the lukewarm soup, no doubt," (110) adding comic relief to Ezra's dampened spirit knowing he cannot seem to finish a dinner with his family (Henningfeld 2). It is always Ezra who tries the hardest to connect the family and "keep the peace" (Bowers 2). Cody's sarcastic comments relieve the already tense situation and make the dinner seem more realistic by separating hostile conversations with his humor. The third