“My parents only stuck around for a week or so and then they were off to Italy to check up on an ice-bucket factory. Fortunately, they have an import-export business which permits them to pick up and fly away whenever the internecine family warfare escalates to the bombing level. They fly in full of gifts and good feelings and fly out when the shit hits the fan. The whole process takes about a week. The rest of the year they pine for their far-flung children and wonder why most of them live so far from home. During the years I was in Germany and Randy was in Beirut, my mother wondered wistfully why two of her brood had chosen to live (as she put it) ‘in enemy territory.’” (Fear of Flying Pgs. 235-236)
The analogy of the family fighting being similar to warfare at the “bombing level” definitely plays up the intensity of the situation. But like real warfare, you can never truly escape from the war until all of the problems are completed. The entire family chooses to ignore their difficulties and problems throughout the entire novel rather than confront them directly. This is ironic, however, in that with this fighting within the family also compassion. When Pierre tries to seduce his various sisters-in-law, he is going against his normal attitude of conflict with everyone. Just like in war, there is subterfuge to be found!
Additionally, when I first read, “when the shit hits the fan,” I literally laughed out loud. In my opinion, it is used incorrectly here, because normally the expression discuses the consequences of a previously secret situation becoming public. I don’t necessarily believe that this family conflict has become public. It may, however, symbolize the revealing of previously constrained feelings and emotions. The family may appear superficially happy with “gifts and good feelings,” but eventually their true emotions are shown to the rest of the family, and chaos ensues.
The irony in this passage, in that the parents mistreat their children and later are clueless as to why their children despise them, is apparent through the Jung’s tone and use of diction. It is almost like she is having a conversation with the audience; she is truly telling a story. Using inappropriate diction such as “shit” keeps the conversation incredibly casual as well. It’s an effective method of sharing intimate details of a dysfunctional family. The irony continues in the mother believing that those who hate the Jews (such as the Germans and Arabs) are the enemy, and her daughters are residing in their territory, rather than realizing that the daughters escaped their true “enemy territory” when they moved out of their parent’s home. Despite the wealth the family may have, it appears that money really doesn’t buy happiness.
Your reading of this passage’s military/battleground diction is spot on! Every family has fundamental conflicts and issues that arise and every family is different in how they handle these problems (whether they talk about them or not). An individual’s development can be heavily impacted by how they are raised by their family. Learning from the performative gender roles their parents play in a family setting, especially, can impact an individual’s sexual development. Here, Pierre’s attempt to seduce members of his family reveal how this “battleground” setting for family conflicts have disrupted the normative development of sexual identities.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that the family cannot confront their problems head on. For, example, when Isadora hides in the closet as an adult...well, hopefully I'm not the only one who found that incredibly ridiculous. I love how you read the part about the enemy territory being the family and not the historically "enemy territory." Reading this passage now I wonder if there's any connection between Isadora's fear of flying and the frequency with which her parents did it...after all, isn't her mother the one who put the superstitious thoughts into her head?
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