ry emerges as an exploration of conflicts both among members of the family and in society. The differences between black and white, rich and poor, country life and city life, and ultimately, life and death, (Death in the Family) is a timeless novel about the impact death causes within a family. Eventually the story deals with the emotions of the individual characters as the story jumps back and forth in time from the viewpoints of Jay's wife, brother, and young son, Rufus, Agee creates a powerful novel of innocence, tenderness, and loss(Critical essays in modern literature pp. 875). James Agee masters the art of communication in his autobiographical novel, A (Death in the Family). In the novel (Death in the Family) James Agee discusses the themes of love, religion and maturation.
             Love is one of the main themes in the novel (Death in the Family), in it Rufus, his mother, and his family are trying to cope with the loss of his father after a tragic car accident. It's not about the fights, or the actual death of his father, but about the love humans use in communication and how people deal with pain. This is shown as the conflicts between the members of the family before and after the death of the father, such as the conflict at the dinner table in the beginning of the novel. The family seems to have a routine for their heated arguments as they seem to occur frequently as the story suggests(Critical essays in modern literature pp. 875). This shows that although they have problems with one another the love that the family shared gave them the ability to move on and get past the problem as families do. Even after the death of jay there is a conflict illustrated by Jay's brother, Ralph. Ralph is an undertaker and wants to take care of Jay's body because he feels responsible for the death. The fact that Ralph blames himself is an example how the love for his brother overwhelms him and all love for himself since it was his drunken phone call...