Home Essay - AHWOSG

Examine the presentation of the theme of ‘home’ in (the first 104 pages of) AHWOSG

The theme of home is often presented in a way that alludes to the darker, more depressive concepts of AHWOSG. With the segregation from the neighbours, attempts at decor, poor living conditions and games involving the pretence of parent-child relationships, Eggers uses the concept of home to express Dave’s detachment from standard living arrangements and inability to adapt in order to provide Toph with a functional home environment.

Eggers presents the concept of neighbours in a distrustful light, as anyone looking in to their home or passing by are outsiders, grouped into the collective noun in the ominous statement “people know” when referring to the state of the family’s disrepair, more specifically his mothers illness. The repeated phrase sets a clear line between the Eggers’ family and outsiders, and continues as a theme throughout the book.For example, upon moving into their second home, Dave expresses that he and Toph “do very little in the way of mingling with the community.”, showing that they have made a habit of voluntarily isolating themselves from neighbours in order to avoid scrutiny at their unfortunate circumstances.

In terms of interior decoration, Eggers describes his family’s taste as being “inconsistent”, an adjective that inspires connotations of mismatched designs and homely charm. Although Eggers statement that “it could not be uglier”, the overall description of his childhood home gives a sense of fondness and familiarity, specifically with the metaphor of the ‘aesthetically disenfranchised furniture’ as being “troubled children and refugees from around the world” which the family has adopted, having seen the “beauty within” and being unable to turn it away. The description insights a feeling of attachment and vaguely begrudging affection, but this imagery is shortly dashed by the following descriptions of the homes various cases of dereliction and the phrase “The family room is usually dark.” The lexical choice of ‘dark’ encourages connotations of gloom and despair, adding to the image of the house as a “factory”, a place of monotonous labour and plumes of pollution.

The presentation of decoration as a device of pathetic fallacy follows through to the second home that Dave and Toph move into, when they attempt to “repaint the entire house”, an activity commonly associated with new beginnings, for example, the tradition of painting a baby’s room.

However, in Eggers description, he portrays the idea that Dave and Toph leave gaps, “skipping the corners” and leaving the job largely unfinished - this alludes to the idea that the activity is slapdash, an imitation of lovingly decorating a home for aestheticism and pride. The statement that the half-hearted job leaves the rooms “loose, fuzzy and Rothkoesque” perfectly summarises the image for the reader, with the lexical choices “loose” - giving connotations of languid strokes - “fuzzy” - inspiring connotations of blurred hurriedness - and “Rothkoesque” giving the allusion of grandiosity and tastefulness, all coming together to give the impression of metaphorically covering up the lack of familiarity and comfort of home. The pretence of a fully-functional family, able to thoughtfully decorate their home is deserted most pointedly with Dave painting superheroes on Toph’s bedroom wall for “decoration and protection” - the concept is desperate and pitiful to the reader, despite its sweet sentimentality. The idea seems forced in order to emulate the security and safeness proffered by a home.

The poor attempts at functionality is furthered by the entropy of living conditions, and Dave’s power play in order to appear as a stable parental figure for Toph. When they come to the realisation that “the place is ours, but its a mess”, Dave attempts to employ some stereotypical motivation for Toph to do the chores, with Eggers presenting the conversation as if it were a business transaction (“$2 a week in tax-free allowance”) in order to make a mockery of the semblance power imbalance that should be present in a parent-child relationship.The reader gets the impression of a childish interaction, which further weakens the idea of Dave as a responsible parental figure. 

By describing Dave’s behaviour with the adjective “slovenly”, and the family room as being in a “perpetual state of disrepair” the reader is given the imagery of a slobbish environment, unfit for living in. Dave is aware of this, and his realisation is followed by a hyper-vigilant spiel of Toph being taken away - “to a house which is kept clean - where the laundry is done properly and with a parental figure that can cook” a line that encapsulates each of the dysfunctional aspects of their current living arrangements.

Dave’s attempts to act like a responsible adult is further diminished by the crude role-play of a father and son Dave and Toph often play at the expense of their neighbours, and as an act is rather alarming when taken out of context.The sarcastic tone conveyed by the statement “our best trick is to pretend, for the benefit of the neighbours, that I’m beating Toph with a belt.” shows that Dave is rather proud of the game and see’s the act as amusing rather than inappropriate and  

immature.The fact that the reader knows of their fathers alcoholism and volatile violence destabilises the humour of the act and makes the concept rather dark and disconcerting for the reader.

In conclusion, the theme of home is often presented as a mode of pathetic fallacy, alluding to the stability of the Eggers family. It is an important device, used to show the true extent of the the destabilisation of functionality in the living arrangements of Dave and Toph in their second home. The concept is most accurately summed up by the statement “we feel temporary here, like house-sitters, vacationers” the lexical terms associated with provisional circumstances showing the instability and detachment from reality, as if they are merely on a holiday and allowed to act however they please, both lacking responsibility and sense of decorum with the lack of a stable home.