Is Housekeeping a Successful Coming-of-Age?

When I finished Housekeeping, I thought that it was the most definitive ending of the books we've read so far this year. But as we discussed in class, I realized that the ending was actually quite ambiguous. The novel is seen as a coming-of-age story for Ruth, and it completes this storyline quite nicely. Ruth finds her way in the world and her “ending” is quite clear. However the novel starts with Ruth and Lucille as a unit. They do almost everything together and everyone knows it. However as the novel progresses they becomes less and less alike. Lucille goes with the "common persuasion" and Ruth becomes more like Sylvie.

By the end of the novel, it is clear that Lucille and Ruth have gone their different ways completely, as they are no longer live together and Lucille believes Ruth to be dead. In class I presented that in this way their joint coming-of-age story is not successful. But what I didn't think about is how this is also a separate coming-of-age story for Lucille.

Lucille’s coming-of-age story is also tracked throughout the book, at first with Ruth and then separately. She starts in much the same position as Ruth: in the hands of their grandmother, abandoned by their mother. Ruth and Lucille navigate their changes of guardianship together, and like stated previously are very much a unit. However, when Sylvie comes, the unit begins to split. Lucille, as her own coming-of-age, begins to become more and more like the older women and girls of Fingerbone. This “epiphany” of Lucille’s parallels Ruth’s own: that she is more like Sylvie than the women of Fingerbone. Lucille takes the biggest step in her coming-of-age story by moving into the home ec teacher’s house. However, I would not say this is the most defining moment in her coming-of-age story. I would instead say that her biggest moment comes when Ruth and Sylvie are said to drown in the lake. We have no idea what comes after this point in Lucille’s coming-of-age story. However Ruth’s speculation says that it may have in fact been unsuccessful, her life being fully defined by the day Ruth and Sylvie escaped Fingerbone.

Esther and the Mystery of Buddy Willard

Although it's been quite a while since we initially read the section on Buddy Willard's hypocrisy being revealed to Esther for the first time, I am still stewing on exactly what signals were sent to Esther during this encounter. My initial reaction was that Buddy had almost slut shamed Esther early in the novel when he tells her she must "go out with a lot of boys" (Plath 59). This type of reaction to Esther's first kiss with Buddy seems like a situation familiar to a lot of young women today. Buddy, however, is not quite as rude but I think that this line does make Esther feel a little bad for how many guys she has gone out with, although according to her this is a reflection of her unpopularity with men rather than her sexual promiscuousness.

The discussion in class about how she felt betrayed by Buddy's exposure as a non-virgin made me think differently. Although Buddy did make her feel like the more experienced one of the two, she does not seem as bothered that he said earlier that she had gone out with a lot of boys, it was that he implied he hadn't gone out with a lot of girls. This raises the question of why exactly Esther would feel bad about the fact that Buddy in fact was more sexually experienced than she was. Simply enough, I think what frustrates her most is the fact that men are allowed to act innocent even though they are not, whereas if a woman was caught acting "innocent" in spite of being a non-virgin, she would be shamed. Additionally, Esther's frustration extends beyond just her interaction with Buddy. The lack of care by her schoolmates at a man's hypocrisy just goes to show her that there are institutions that she cannot topple herself, and the lack of emotion make her feel utterly alone.

On further reading, it is obvious that Buddy is really not a bad person, but one terribly swayed by society's gender expectations and norms (e.g. the scene where he tells Esther she will change her mind about children and marriage). However, I think it is interesting to note his tendencies to portray Esther as somewhat dirty, even if this is not the main reason she is upset with his hypocrisy (in addition to his questioning of who she will marry in the final chapter).