There is a considerable shift in the lives of Ruth and Lucille once Sylvie arrives in Housekeeping. Sylvie is an interesting character for a number of reasons: she goes against the ordinary day-to-day life carried out by her mother, provides Ruth and Lucille with the ability to act freely as individuals, and tells Lucille and Ruth about their mother. Sylvie inspires a lot of change around the house, not the least of which is Lucille's decision to leave and ultimately never see her sister or aunt again.
It is immediately clear that Sylvie is unlike Lily and Nona when she enters the novel. In addition to her unusual way of dressing--wearing a gigantic, old coat over a much nicer dress, and not wearing gloves or boots in the extreme cold--Sylvie's attitude sets her apart from pretty much everyone else in Fingerbone. Not only does she disregard routines like taking care of the house or even eating regular meals, but she also seems to think very little about what is the best for the family. One example of this is when Ruth and Lucille skip school and see Sylvie walking out onto the bridge. It doesn't cross Sylvie's mind that she could fall from the bridge, and she doesn't think about the impact it would have on her nieces' lives if she did.
Sylvie's carefree, lenient attitude is what allows Ruth and Lucille to first be distinguished as individuals. Early in the book, Ruth and Lucille don't have much control over their situation and are forced to obey the rules set out by their grandmother and Lily and Nona. But when Sylvie becomes their guardian, they are put in a position where they can skip school if they want too, and Lucille especially isn't afraid to question Sylvie's authority. This change in their guardianship, along with their growing independence as adolescents, means that Ruth and Lucille have the liberty to express their differing beliefs more than they could before. While Ruth is often aligned with Sylvie's point of view and doesn't necessarily see Sylvie's quirkiness as a problem, Lucille's outgoing nature and desire to fit in with others in Fingerbone clashes with Sylvie's unorthodox personality. In this way, Sylvie's arrival in Housekeeping definitely sparks the distinction between Ruth and Lucille. It is hard to say whether or not Ruth and Lucille would end up going their separate ways if Sylvie hadn't come into their lives, but when she does, it is inevitable for them to continue acting as a single person.
This is a really interesting question in the wider context of identity-formation and coming of age. Obviously, Ruth and Lucille's lives are altered by Syvlie coming to be their "guardian," but at the same time, we can see differences between them that predate Sylvie's influence. Would they have grown apart anyway? Ruth ponders the fact that she first became "so unlike everyone else" at her conception--her *nature* is somehow different. But we are shaped in immeasurable ways by others, to the extent that it's very difficult to separate what is "natural" to us from how we've been influenced by others.
ReplyDeleteBut Sylvie does seem to "catalyze" the process of Ruth and Lucille's separation. While Lucille might eventually have tried to "make over" Ruth to be more "normal," her leaving home at such a young age is clearly a response to Sylvie.
But with Ruth, it does seem like the transient life really suits her, to the point that she finds it hard to imagine living any other way. (Or, she maybe realizes *she'd* be unrecognizable to herself if she had lived any other way--her experiences with Sylvie have shaped the voice that's telling the story.) This seems like a good and lucky thing to me: she has found a life that suits her, rather than contorting herself awkwardly in order to fit some conventional idea of how she "should" be.