Home is More Than Just a Place
- Michael Bagge
- Apr 8, 2016
- 4 min read
Home
Home can mean different things to many different people, everyone's opinion will vary when it comes to how you should act while at home and how our home influences us. In her novel Home, by Marilynn Robinson, she indirectly describes how she feels about home from all different aspects including how she feels about home in general and what she feels home means to her,. I feel that throughout the book her ideas about a home in general change greatly because of how Jack changed her perception about home and made her appreciate the little things that make her feel a sense of belonging. In the beginning she never thought of her house as a home, just a place to stay. In the end I think she gets a sense of belonging with where she calls home.
I think that one of the main things Glory describes are the components of a home. I think she portrays that home is not just the structure of a house, but more about where you feel most at home, or a place you feel like you belong. I think that it is not limited to your house and property, but also includes your town and the people you associate with when you are at home.
Glory describes that when taking care of her father she felt as if she had a reason to be there and had a role she was supposed to play. I also think that when Jack was home, things were awkward at first and she didn’t feel comfortable like she should at home. Once she really got to know Jack better, I think her views of what her home is changed a little bit. When he wasn’t there she was just taking care of her father and didn’t really have anyone to share her feelings with, but once Jack and her became closer I feel that Jacks presents became part of what she perceived as home. I also believe that Glory felt bad for Jack since he never really had a place to call home and this makes Glory appreciate her sense of home more.
I think Gilead and her fathers house in general is what Glory perceived as her home and that no matter where she goes, it will always be where she feels most at home. Although in the book she never leaves her home town, I think she would feel as if she was leaving her home if she were to move to a different house. She also portrays that you can leave your home and that home can also leave you. I think when Jack left, a little part of what Glory thought of as home left. Without Jack there to keep her company and share her thoughts with, then she won't be at home.
In the book Home, Glory sometimes seems as if she doesn’t like her home and wishes she could take things back and have her life a lot different then it is and in a sense, have a different place where she feels at home. Although she does love her father and enjoys taking care of him, she wishes that she would have gotten married to her fiancé, have kids and just have a life of her own without feeling like it is her duty as the daughter to wake up early every morning to make her father breakfast and put his needs before hers. Although, this is not her reality, and she knows it, she will always call that place her home and I think the position her and her father are in with respect to their relationship with Jack does partially define who she is.
I feel that Glory also takes her home for granted at first, but once she learns about Jack and his life, she realizes that she is lucky to have the home that she has and also to have Jack in her life again. She feels that Jack never even had a place to call home and I think she feels bad about it.
Although it seems she doesn’t enjoy her home in Gilead as much as she portrays, she makes the most of it. When Jack comes home, she takes advantage of his company. She tries to improve her sense of home by becoming closer to Jack and becoming close with him had a positive effect on her and her sense of home. Getting to share her feelings and just being comfortable with Jack changes her sense of home from just being a place where you stay to being a place where you are comfortable and where you belong. I also think that she thinks being at home should be where you can get away from all of reality and be able to unwind from your everyday life, but since she spends most of her day at the house I think it kind of makes it hard for her to get away from reality.
At the end of this book I think Glory has a new perspective on what home is. She now looks on her life with her father and Jack in the house that they live in as a home where she can be herself. It was intriguing to see how her new experiences with Jack and her father have completely changed her views on every aspect of home. I think Jack still doesn’t really have a place where he feels at home and I think that is part of the reason why he is an alcoholic and why he seems depressed. Although he doesn’t feel a sense of home, I think he realizes that he is apart of Glory's home. Glory realizes what her sense of home is and also realizes that where she calls home, is where she should feel comfortable and a place where she can be herself. She now knows that home is not just the structure or place where you live in, but more of a place where you feel at home and where you should feel a sense of belonging.
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