Part
One. Reading Questions
1. What is the significance of Francis’ brush with death?
325, 326. Irrelevance. Such a trauma causes us to question the meaning of our
lives.
2. What is the contradiction of Francis Weed’s name? The
exquisite and the refined mated with the wild and the untamed. A major theme.
3. How has Francis created a suburban Eden on page 326
and 327?
4. How does the story set up the conflict between the
Cave and the Beehive? 327. The need for balance. The back garden is Francis’
cave, a refuge from the beehive, 328.
5. Why does the story contain war references and imagery
throughout? 326, Battle of Marne; 327, Scottish chieftains; analogous of
interior battle, conflict; 328, domestic battle; 330, the maid from Normandy;
336, Hannibal crossing the Alps; war represents vitality, strength and power;
the battle of desire; the war within. What war? Public duty and private desire.
Moving through Jung’s 4 stages of life: athlete, warrior, statesman, spirit;
Francis stuck at the warrior stage, the egotism stage.
6. What suggests that Francis is being eaten by the worm
of self-pity? 327, 328. Attention, relevance.
7. How is Jupiter the ghost of Francis? 329. Self-pity,
instincts, out of place, misfit. Another ghost of Francis: Gertrude on page 335
bottom.
8. What does the maid’s ostracism described on page 330
say about the story’s theme? There are penalties and punishments for not
conforming to social norms.
9. How does Francis react to the young woman described on
page 331 and 332. He becomes intoxicated with a chimera like Lester in American
Beauty. On page 333, he dreams of
living with the girl Anne Murchison in Paris.
10.
Why is Francis’ rudeness
towards Mrs. Wrightson a turning point in the story? Why is he so visceral in
his hostility toward her on page 334? What will the consequences of his
trespass be? They will be ostracized from the socialites like the maid was
ostracized in France. Made into misfits because of Francis’ improprieties.
11.
When Julia rebukes her
husband and says he “can’t live like a bear in a cave,” how do her words sum up
the nature of most marriages? 340. Men are happier in marriage; women are not
because they mother their husbands. Ouch.
12.
What is Francis’ real
war on page 341? His subconscious passive-aggressive hostility.
13.
What is Francis’ hope on
top of page 344?
14.
How does Francis tame
the beast within? Sublimation. See page 345.
15.
Why is the final
paragraph hopeful?
Part
Two. Man-Child (Peter Pan Syndrome)
1. succumbs to self-pity; in fact, he spends time coddling and nurturing his self-pity.
2. marriage with wife is like a relationship with a mother and child
3. father never outgrows the habits of selfishness and self-centeredness
4. husband never tames his beast or Id; maturity is largely defined by self-control, a quality lacking in Francis Weed
5. The man-child retreats into the ego and severs ties with the community, becoming in essence a pariah or misfit.
6. He is the Eternal Boy who resents having boundaries in his life. Boundaries are essential for growing up, a moral lesson found in the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
7. The Man-Child sees himself as a victim of unfair persecution and as a result goes through life with a chip on his shoulder and resentment.
8. The Man-Child wants to be the center of attention or else he feels sorry for himself.
9. The Man-Child wants his family to love him and dote on him even though he does nothing to show his love for them. He fails to understand the social contract of reciprocity because he is essentially a narcissist.
10. The Man-Child is an "unfocused rebel," as we read in Karen Bernardo's essay.
Part Three. Journal Entry:
First Option: Write
about a father you know who struggles with his own internal war and the
sublimation strategies he depends on to behave in a tame, civil manner.
Or
Second Option: Write about a man-child, a physical adult who suffers from Peter Pan Syndrome and use this profile to compare to Francis Weed.
Essay Option:
Compare a man-child to the immature characteristics of Francis Weed.
Comments