International English
Writing session: Modern Writing
Task 1)the theme in heartbreaking work of a staggering genius
(S.1- 101):
Heartbreaking work of a staggering genius is a novel, which was published in 2000. Dave eggers is the author of the book, and the book is also his memoir.The book is written in present form and is chronologically built, it is written in I-form, and seen thru Dave’s eyes.
Perhaps the biggest theme in the book is that moving on after a great loss is a necessity. In the book, the main character loses both his parents to cancer within a month; he seemed to move on very quickly from these traumatic events, and at first that made me think that, he did not care. It made me think that maybe he was not as close with his parents as most people are, and it made me dislike the main character, since I could not relate to him.
‘’There is a voice inside of me, a very excited, chirpy voice, that urges me to keep things merry madcap even, the mood buoyant. Because Beth is always pulling out old photo albums crying, asking Toph how he feels, I feel I have to overcompensate by keeping us occupied.’’(Heartbreaking work of a staggering genius p.88)
After the death of his parents, Dave becomes the warden of his little brother Toph. Instantly he begins to do fun activities with him, and he does not seem like he is grieving over the death of his parents, and I felt that I got no explanation why until p.88. There the narrator explains that he must constantly keep things merry to overrule his sister’s sadness. At first glance, I thought it was exclusively about Toph ,that it was about keeping Toph occupied, but in the last sentence, he uses the word us .Which means that him doing weird happy things is not only to protect Toph from the sad traumatic past , but it is to protect the both of them. Moving on for Dave is something he has to do in this book, reflecting over the past is simply not an option.
In some books the themes are revealed in an obvious manner, this is not that kind of book. Since this book is a memoir the themes could not be planned, the themes I choose were the questions or statements that recurred multiple times thru out the text.
A minor theme in the novel, is how an unfit warden/slash parent can affect a child, this is a very minor theme, it is not once mentioned by the author how he feels his way of ‘’parenting’’ will affect Toph. However, it is mentioned that Toph is constantly late for school and also that they live in a very messy house that is borderline filthy, Dave is definitely affecting Toph a great deal, but it is not all negative.
‘’we are always late always half done. All school forms need to be sent to me twice, and I have to hand them in late’’ (Heartbreaking work of a staggering genius p.83)
Although I think one of the older sibling should have taken care of Toph, so that he could have some sort of parental figures, Dave seems like he is there for Toph. It is easier for them to relate to one and other, and they have this mutual understand for one another in a way that might not have be possible for Toph and one of the older siblings.
Another minor theme could be that there is a negative association with being a young parent. Although Dave is not Toph parent, he is often mistaken to be that. Dave often describes the looks he gets from passerby’s or homeowner as judgmental, and he his reaction is always instant dislike for those who do look at them in that manner.
‘’That gaunt and severe woman on the BART, the one with the hair pulled so tight she looked half onion, who sat across from us kept looking over her book, at us, disapproving, as I rested my feet on Toph’s lap, like I was a molester.… ‘’(Heartbreaking work of a staggering genius p.71, regarding who his enemies where)
Another theme is the sibling bond. This is regarding Dave and Toph’s relationship, which is extremely important in this story. Although Beth is both their siblings and while she is an important factor to the story, she is not as crucial as Toph and Dave. They have a strong bond and the book is predominantly about their relationship although Dave can go into another subject he mostly talks about the two of them. Dave constantly talks about Toph, either he talks about the things he does, or the things he says he also talks a lot about his reaction to the things he does.
‘’ I watch Toph, follow his new oversized red felt hat moving thru the drills, watch him waiting his turn, watch him field a ground ball , turn and throw it to the coach one second ,watch only him, even if he’s waiting in line to see if he’s talking with the other kids, strain to see if he’s being accepted. … ‘’ (Heartbreaking work of a staggering genius p.71, regarding who his enemies where)
Dave has a very ‘’ us against the world’’ mentality regarding Toph, it is understandable however. If something bad where to happen to one of them, or if they found themselves in a bad situation, the only person that would really be there, would be the other brother. It might be an unfair statement to make, but since the other sibling are background characters. In the acknowledgements or before that Dave states the difficulty with other relationships because him and Toph are the only people that will admire, and love each other to that extent.
All that being said I don’t feel that the sibling bond was the biggest Theme it surely was a major theme , but the most important theme in this story in my opinion are the events that happened and how they dealt with them , Their journey in other words.