Homesick

Exposing the relationships between the various characters

Homesick is a novel that exposes many different relationships, the strength of relationships, and how they can endure tremendous pain. The various relationships between Alec and Vera, Alec and Daniel, and Vera and Daniel are considerably different because of the variation in generation represented by each character. Each relationship in this family has its strengths and weaknesses depending on the past of the relationships. The relationships in the novel Homesick are seen through all of the character's eyes, so we can see how each character felt about the other characters. These characters do not tend to say what they think, we can see this many times throughout the novel. These relationships can be observed by seeing how they act, speak, and treat one another.

The old clichй Money doesn't buy happiness is especially true for Alec because even though he has a great sum of money, he has no one to share it with. He greatly regrets the decisions he made that led to the unfortunate consequence of the separation with his daughter and is ashamed of the choices he made in his life, mostly of them regarding Vera and Earl. The novel begins with Alec's dreams about falling through the water and being trapped underneath the ice. To be abandoned, he thought, felt worse than the ice cold water. (Vanderhaeghe, p.2).

Vera, on the other hand, believes all of the decisions she has made were the right ones. Vera thinks the way she raised Daniel was the correct approach to doing it and that it could not have been any better. She thought it was better to raise Daniel without a male influence in his life so he would not be corrupt and ruined like her father. Vera also believes that running away was the right choice and the only choice she had, because if she had stayed with her father, her life would be a wreck.

From the beginning of the novel, we can note a conflict between Alec and Vera. Their relationship is not what an average father daughter relationship looked like. Vera greatly regretted moving back to Connaught, but seeing as how it was her only option if she wanted a future for Daniel, she had to take it. Even though they were separated for seventeen years, their memories and impressions of each other were still the same as they were in the past. Vera, with her forceful personality, immediately tried setting down ground rules for their relationship as well as hers and Daniels accommodations, but as usual, only resulted in more conflict. Both of them were still stuck in the past and could not find the means to move on. Alec still saw Vera as a little girl and Vera still saw Alec as a domineering figure. For instance, when Vera came home from a seventeen year absence, she noticed that the house had not been changed at all (p.36). This was a symbol of their relationship because their relationship did not change either. They did not even talk to each other about old times, or ask how each other felt, they got right to the point. The reason for this is because Vera's personality would not allow her to digress and Alec could not move on and wanted to keep their relationship as it was in the past, him belittling her. After his wife died, Alec took up gardening as a way to keep her memories with him (p.30). He even wore his hat in the house because it brought back memories of the quarrels he had with his wife. Vera had a hard time moving past the memories she had of Alec because she did not think that a thick skulled individual like her dad had the ability to change. She was wrong. When she found out that her father saw to her mother's grave, she became furious. Vera could not accept the thought of her father changing so drastically, becoming a person that she did not know. It did not please her to know that she was wrong about this and that she could be wrong about other things.

A big issue holding back Alec and Vera's relationship was Earl. When Alec's demons awoke and he started to drink, he often forced Earl to go with him on a drive through the country side to wash away the pain of losing his wife. This was troubling to Vera because it was putting Earl in danger, whom she was overly protective of, and because she secretly wanted to be the one by her dad's side. Vera wanted to be first in Alec's eyes but instead she was second. She usually came first in everything she did like her schooling. The reason Alec took those drives was to run away from his life in Connaught and to leave it all behind. Vera, taking after her father, emulated his actions, but she took it one step further and actually left Connaught. This was a breaking point in their relationship which lasted seventeen years.

Another big issue preventing Vera and Alec's relationship from moving forward was the fact that Vera believed Alec was stealing her loved ones away from her. Vera thought that Alec could not be supportive and loving to anyone because that was how he was with her. Again, she was wrong. During a conversation with Earl, Vera said, "You know, sometimes I wish he'd run that truck of his into a telephone pole and end the suspense." (p.66). After this remark, Earl crazily ran at her with flailing, bitter arms. We can see that this upsets Earl which shows us that Earl is not like his sister in that he cares for his father Alec. Another instance is when Alec and Daniel are talking and Daniel realizes that he loves Alec (p. 295). Daniel starts to disobey his mom's orders of staying away from Alec and begins to spend more time with him then he does with his mom (p. 258). We can see that Vera had a hard time controlling the boys' and that she could not be the barrier between the boys and Alec.

Vera always had to prove herself to her father. We can see this many times in the novel, for instance, when she ate the undertaker berry. She wanted her dad to see that she was fearless and she could eat a whole pie made of undertaker berries (p.256). When she was writing her letters to Earl, she was secretly trying to show her dad that she could be independent and that he was wrong about her. Vera wanted to demonstrate to her father that she could handle anything that came her way and that she could have balanced school, taking care of Earl, and the house chores if she was given the chance. Later in the novel, she continues to follow the trend by buying the Blue Bird Cafй. It was situated right in front of the hotel which Alec owned to show that she was willing to compete with him face to face. This way, when he surveyed the streets, the only thing he would see was Vera's success.

The relationship between Alec and Daniel was so pure and true because it was not affected by the past. They held no past grudges