A Painted House

             A Painted House is the story of seven-year-old Luke Chandler who lives in a small cotton farm in rural Arkansas with his parents and grandparents in a little house that's never been painted. Portraying life of the 1950s in the South, the novel encompasses Luke's transition from an innocent and naive boy to one with secrets and desires that threaten to destroy the family's crop and change the lives of the Chandlers forever. In this tale, Grisham sketches vivid portraits of the characters, settings, and conflicts to paint the overwhelming theme that knowledge and understanding do not come easily, and there is often a price that one must pay in attaining it.
             Grisham describes the novel's overall theme with the fateful arrivals of Tally, Cowboy, and Hank. Their sudden presence completely changes Luke's young life, and subjects him to witness numerous events and acts that a typical kid could not have been witnessed. More than anything, Luke's transformation into a more inquisitive and cognizant boy is simply inevitable when he is exposed to his first sighting of a female's flesh by none other Tally herself. The idea that Luke takes quite a fancy to Tally and craves to see more of her body afterwards ultimately takes away his innocence, placing him in an uncharted and matured territory in which he is utterly unprepared for. Moreover, the gradual loss of Luke's young childhood and his subconscious need to "having seen most of [Tally] privates...now [wants] to see everything"(pg 99) introduces him into a world of adulthood, an uncertain world engulfed in treachery and betrayal. Furthermore, ushered by Tally, Luke thoughtlessly follows her and then witnesses the birth of Libby's baby, and when "Libby [screams] in agony, [Luke] nearly [jumps] out of [his] skin."(pg 128). This incident pushes Luke to wonder more about the trials of life, an
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A Painted House. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 09:46, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/10016.html