White Oleander: American Life and Important Social and Moral Values
Janet Fitch's 'White Oleander' is one of the most fascinating and poeticnovels to capture the attention of American readers in recent times. It isa well-written book depicting the life of a young American girl whorepresents the growing dysfunctional family system in the country. The bookis not about foster homes or motherless children; it is essentially aboutAmerican life and important social and moral values that it seems to havelost. Fitch tells the coming of age story of a young 12-year-old girlnamed, Astrid who grew up in various foster homes after her mother wasimprisoned for killing her lover. The novel touches some important themeslike American life, a person's sense of self worth, self esteem, mother'slove etc but above still it remains essentially about life of an averageAmerican and this reminds us of the ugly possibility that the protagonist,Astrid could be any one of us. To a large extent, she represents one sideThe book is set in Los Angeles, where American life exists at itsdysfunctional peak. This is a place which represents the erratic side ofAmerica and that is what Astrid's life is all about. It is not normal butthen it is certainly American for each charact
" (97)White Oleander clearly depicts the life of a lonely American child whogrows up in foster homes and is deprived of real love and affection. She would drink byherself with tomatoes dying on the windowsills . However her power of clear observation and her intense desire to love andbe loved doesn't let her become a victim to her mother's attitude andbeliefs. While we agree that not everyAmerican faces such tragic events, yet we know that life is America can bereally tough especially for those who do not have a stable family life. Therapidly eroding social and family values are exposed as author shows howlack of love destroys a person. We drift away from families whenwe grow up, drift away from life as we knew it, drift away from the peoplewe once knew and loved. Astrid is a sensible person but onewho has experienced a little too much pain. Then you set offat nightfall, retracing your steps. While she doesn't want togive up on love, her expectations suffer a setback as she begins expectingless. These are the emotions that Astrid feels as shedrifts away from her mother and then from various foster parents. For example,as she moves from foster home to foster home, Astrid begins drifting awayfrom her expectations and from her need to love and be loved in return.
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