Maine - a novel- j.courtney sullivan

Summary of Chapter 4 of Maine by Courteny J. Sullivan The argues that love can in some instances redeem the most contentious issues that exist in families. In the story, the novelist used humour to examine the truths that are found in the heart and far beyond. Maine is considered as a place where the children usually run in groups and taking a shower could be done outdoors. The four women represent the four generations including Alice (old generation), her daughter Kathleen (baby boomer), and her daughter-in-law Ann Marie (baby boomer), along with her granddaughter Maggie (generation X) (Sullivan, 429). In this excerpt, like the other three women, Maggie is struggling with universal issues that are affecting women in this last century. As a result, she is forced to confront the real truths about themselves together with their relationships. Maggie is thirty-two years of age, and she is pregnant. However, she is still waiting for that perfect moment to break the news to her imperfect boyfriend (Sullivan, 430). However, when she got pregnant, her boyfriend backed away showing the continues string of inapproriate partners for the four women.
Maggie can be located in her generation in the way she dressed. Sullivan writes, she appeared in “ tiny tight dress in Lewinsky blue” (431). When Alice learns that Maggie is pregnant, she says, “ Well, that’s, then,” (437). This shows her anger towards Maggie’s pregnancy. This contributes to the theme of love and anger in the story. As the story drifts towards the end, Kathleen says to Maggie, ” Its going to be okay,” (444) to which she responds, ” It has to be”(446). This shows the existence of love between the women. This brings out the charms of Maggie’s adopted home in Brooklyn.
Sullivan portrays three generations of women in the Kelleher’s family who take the guilt in their secrets of their private lives. In alternating accounts late spring and early summer, the female figures contradict and complement each other in surprising but contradictable manner. By the time the story comes to an end, the reader is also ready to leave the beach. Summarily, through Maggies, the story unveils the theme of sibling rivalry, irrational love, social climbing, alcoholism, and Catholic guilt all at the centre of this Keller family. Sullivan uses the four women to show their contrasting behaviours since they belong to different generations.
Works Cited
Sullivan, Courtney. Maine. New York: Vintage Publishers, 2012.