A Character Analysis ...
James Agee was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1909. Agee wrote the novel "A Death In The Family" in New York City, in 1955. This novel is a remembrance of events within a family. It is about marital love and loss and the need for religious faith. This novel is an autobiography about the death of Agee's father. This analysis deals with Jay, Mary and Rufus Follet and how Mary and Rufus deal with Jays death. Jay is a family man and he would do anything for his family. Jay's son Rufus is six years old, they have a great father-son relationship. Jay is very proud of his son and brags about him all the time. Jays wife Mary, loves him very much and he is very tender caring, and loving towards her. He also knows how to treat women and has great respect for them. (Character Analysis, 1-2.) Jay goes to visit his father who has suffered from a heart attack and on the way back home he killed in a car wreak. The rest of the novel shows the reactions of his wife, his four year old daughter, and especially his son, Rufus. (Review, 1.) Rufus Follet is the protagonist of the novel. Throughout the Novel it is shown th
) Mary Follet, like her son, is intelligent and sensitive. At the beginning of the novel when Mary and Jay are together, they appear to have a happy marriage with little strife. ) Another aspect of Rufus's character emphasized throughout the novel is his need to fit in with other children. Rufus's aunt tells him and little Catherine the facts about Jays death, that a concussion had killed their father. Whenever the women give him religious explanations, he questions them and wants an answer that makes logical sense. She is also afraid of a rift growing between them due to their different beliefs. ) To Mary, religion is of utmost importance, yet her religious beliefs become point of tension between her and Jay and the rest of the family. From the begging of the story it is clear that she is more religious than Jay is. Since rufus has never teased anyone and has no desire to, he does not perceive it in others. He is as adult as any other character in the novel, in the ways that he sees and perceives other people. ) Throughout the novel Agee explores individual struggles with grief and how each character must find his own way of dealing with jays death. ) In many way Rufus shows two views of childhood in the novel. The other view is that Rufus is like a child.
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