Criticism of Anne Tyler
Anne Tyler has said that she uses the family unit to show "how people manage to endure together-how they grate against each other, adjust, intrude, and protect themselves from intrusions, give up, and start all over again in the morning," (Applebee et al. 1007). From this quote, a reader can assume that Tyler encourages perseverance and courage. Life all too often presents challenges, but it is how you handle those challenges that matters. Throughout many of her fictional works, characters are placed in unsettling conditions that take a toll on their lives as a whole, usually in a negative way. These unhappy characters seek escape from familial relationships, marriages, and friendships in order to pursue a fantasy, leading to a better personal life.Quite often while reading Anne Tyler's fiction, the reader is introduced to characters involved in tremulous relationships within the home. Many of the domestic interactions appear to be ridden with tumultuous and agitated feelings that fall along the brink of disaster. Once this occurs, the characters find escape from their situations in pursuit of a better personal life. One such character is Samuel Grinstead who appears in Ladder of Years.
"Maybe if I hadn't settled down, life would have been different, maybe even better" (Homesick 33). Ardaui found herself unhappy in her living arrangements, she was determined to escape and seek solace in a better place to ensure her own contentment. In addition to escaping from strained families and marriages to seek better personal lives, some of Tyler's characters involved in unpleasant and unstable friendships search for a break away from them and a better life without them. Ali, like many of Anne Tyler's characters, was unhappy in his marriage and thus finds an escape, which allows him to obtain a better personal life. Donny just could not choose which path was correct, if any at all. Similarly, in "Average Waves in Unprotected Waters" the reader learns that Bet Blevins sought an escape of her own. Cal, along with the other kids who are around Cal's home, encourages Donny to neglect his responsibilities at school and home. The new world in America and the traditional ways of Mrs. Ardaui, is constantly looking to break away from one family member to another in an attempt to find some sort of happiness where she resides. " When his son is diagnosed with a disability at an early age, Avery grows increasingly restless with his wife, Bet. While running away from ones problems is not ever the best thing to do, for Donny it was his only option. Another example of a character who escapes a distressful marital situation is Ali Ardavi in "Your Place is Empty. Making life better and one's self happy should be an objective at any age. Buck therefore escapes his wife, Pearl, and his family to pursue his dream of being a prosperous traveling salesman. He thus leaves home, and upon finishing school moves to Roland Park where he joins a family practice.
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Acceptance Essays
