The Home-maker: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Home-maker" offers a nuanced exploration of the dynamics within the Knapp family, focusing on the lives of its major characters: Eva, Lester, and their children. Eva Knapp is depicted as a discontented housewife, feeling trapped in her domestic role and increasingly frustrated with housework. Her transformation begins when she takes a job at Willing's Department Store, allowing her to channel her talents into a professional career, ultimately leading to improved relationships with her family. Lester, her husband, initially struggles with dissatisfaction at work and later faces a life-changing injury that forces him into the role of the homemaker. This shift allows him to discover unexpected strengths in parenting and household management. Their children, Helen, Henry, and Stephen, each respond differently to the evolving family dynamics, with their emotional well-being improving as their parents find fulfillment in their respective roles. The narrative also introduces supportive figures like Mattie Farnham and the Willings, who reflect broader themes of gender roles and the value of personal passion in both home and work life. Together, these characters illustrate a transformative journey toward balance and mutual support within the family unit.
The Home-maker: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Dorothy Canfield Fisher
First published: 1924
Genre: Novel
Locale: A small town in New England
Plot: Domestic realism
Time: The early 1920's
Evangeline (Eva) Knapp, a housewife. An intense, dark-haired woman in her early thirties, during thirteen years of marriage she has lost her former beauty and now looks worn and unhappy. Because she hates housework but has nothing else to throw herself into, she is impatient with her husband and children, constantly monitoring their behavior, alternately scolding and taking refuge in a polite but oppressive martyrdom. When she takes a job in Willing's Department Store, she has an outlet for her artistic talent as well as her genius at organization and merchandising. No longer needing to put her passion into housekeeping, she relaxes with her husband and children and becomes as successful at being a mother as she is in her new business career.
Lester Knapp, Eva's husband, a billing clerk at Willing's Department Store. A thin, sallow-faced man in his early thirties, he is miserable at his job. Although he loves his wife, he is aware of the fact that he abandoned his other love, literature, when he left college to marry her. When a new owner takes over the store, Lester is first passed over for promotion and then fired. Helping a neighbor whose house is on fire, he falls from the roof and is crippled. Out of necessity, he begins to take care of the house and children while his wife works. In the process, he discovers that he is as good at being a homemaker as his wife is in business. When, in a domestic crisis, he realizes that he could walk again, he decides to continue his present status rather than break up the happy home situation.
Helen Knapp, the oldest child of Lester and Eva. Between ten and twelve years in age, she is bright and sensitive, but because of the emotional tension at home, she always has been delicate. When her father becomes the homemaker, she enjoys her closeness to him and the intellectual stimulation that he provides for her.
Henry Knapp, the older boy in the Knapp family. Three years younger than Helen, he has inherited his father's thin frame and his weak stomach. The atmosphere under Eva's rule sends him into fits of nausea and vomiting, which clear up when his father takes over the home. After his mother ceases worrying about hairs in her spotless house, Henry is permitted to have the dog he has always wanted.
Stephen Knapp, the youngest child in the Knapp family. An energetic five-year-old, he reacts with anger and defiance to the pressure at home, resorting to his dirty teddy bear for consolation. When his father remains home with him, Stephen has someone to cling to, as well as someone who will channel his passion into proper outlets.
Mattie Farnham, a middle-aged friend of Eva. Although she is devoted to her family, she knows that homemaking is more than just making a perfect home-cooked meal. When Lester is injured, she is willing to be helpful, but she soon finds that sympathy is not needed, because everyone is happier under the new system.
Jerome Willing, the new owner of Willing's Department Store. A dynamic young man, he has an understandable contempt for employees who have no flair for the business, and he is perfectly willing to fire them, as he fires Lester. His own success is based on hard work and on imagination. With the example of his wife's good business mind before him, he rejects the sex-role assumptions so common in business, assesses Eva's talents correctly, and puts her on the ladder to management.
Nell Willing, Jerome's wife. A slender, intelligent woman who loves business as much as her husband does, she functions as his partner and counselor while she creates a pleasant home atmosphere with the help of her maid. From the first, she sees in Eva someone much like herself and urges her husband to hire her.