As for Me and My House: Analysis of Major Characters
"As for Me and My House" is a novel narrated by Mrs. Bentley, who documents her life with her husband, Philip Bentley, a United Church minister, over two years in the small town of Horizon. Mrs. Bentley struggles with personal identity and creative aspirations, feeling the weight of her husband's growing alienation and their shared experiences of financial and emotional distress. Philip, burdened by his role as a minister and grappling with his unfulfilled dream of becoming a painter, becomes increasingly withdrawn and defensive, leading to tensions in their marriage. Their relationship is further complicated by the introduction of other characters, such as Paul Kirby, a schoolteacher who admires Mrs. Bentley, and Judith West, a local woman whose actions inadvertently influence the Bentleys' attempt to mend their marriage. The arrival of Steve Kulanich, a troubled boy from a dysfunctional background, adds another layer to the story, challenging the couple's dynamics and their roles within the community. The narrative delves into themes of love, loss, and the search for connection amidst the constraints of social expectations and personal struggles. Overall, the characters serve as a lens through which the complexities of human relationships and societal norms are explored.
As for Me and My House: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Sinclair Ross
First published: 1941
Genre: Novel
Locale: Horizon, a town on the Canadian prairie
Plot: Psychological realism
Time: The 1930's, during the Great Depression
Mrs. Bentley, the wife of Philip Bentley; her first name is never given. She narrates the novel through the journal she keeps during two years of their life in Horizon. She is pale, with dark shadows under her eyes, wears no makeup, and often mentions that her clothes are shabby. She is a loyal, loving, and protective wife but also a frustrated artist, having given up her study of the piano to follow Philip. She records her despair at Philip's growing alienation from her and from his work, her guilt at not being able to have children after giving birth to a stillborn son a year after their marriage, and her resentment of the conditions of spiritual and physical poverty in which they are forced to live. As an educated and sensitive outsider, she despises the pettiness and mean-spiritedness of many of her husband's parishioners but is careful not to offend them; she is reserved and makes few friends. Recognizing her husband's unhappiness, she takes an aggressive role in collecting his back salary from the towns where he previously preached, saving money so that he can afford to leave the church. She also takes the lead in trying to resurrect their faltering marriage, supporting her husband's ill-fated attempt to adopt Steve Kulanich, an abandoned teenager from the wrong side of the tracks, and finally accepting Philip's illegitimate child as an adoptive son when the child's mother dies in childbirth.
Philip Bentley, a United Church minister, the illegitimate son of a waitress and a young preacher who aspired to be a painter and died before his son's birth. Philip is thirty-six years old, a strong, handsome man despite his tired eyes and the haggard look caused by poverty and unhappiness. He entered the church to receive the education he could not otherwise afford, planning to repay his loans with a year or two of preaching; he now finds himself trapped financially and unable to escape to pursue a career as a painter. Solitary since childhood, Philip becomes even more withdrawn and defensive. Guilty over his lack of faith and his inability to help his parishioners, or to improve his own financial situation, he is barely tactful with his congregation and repeatedly rejects his wife's attempts at intimacy. His only outlet is his drawing, which often takes the form of bitter, satirical portraits of the town and its people. Initially passive toward his wife's attempts to enable them to escape from Horizon, he becomes more hopeful after they decide to adopt his illegitimate son.
Paul Kirby, a schoolteacher and self-described philologist, smaller and less handsome than Philip. Paul befriends both Bentleys and is clearly infatuated by Mrs. Bentley. Although he is educated and sensitive to the larger life outside Horizon, he is at peace with his surroundings and serves the Bentleys as a bridge between the small town and the completely rural countryside from which he comes. He brings Steve into their lives and provides them with the means for a brief vacation at his brother's ranch. Paul's open admiration of Mrs. Bentley finally forces a confrontation between Philip and his wife that serves to place them on a more honest footing with each other.
Judith West, the daughter of a farm family from the hills north of town. She has returned to Horizon after taking a commercial course in the city. Failing to find work there, she now assists the town clerk in his office and also works as a servant in his home. She has striking looks; she is pale, with attractive eyes and a lively smile. The matrons of the congregation tolerate her because of her contribution to the choir but are otherwise suspicious of her independence. Mrs. Bentley befriends her cautiously, recognizing the potential danger of Judith's feelings for Philip. With the birth of her son and her own death, Judith provides the Bentleys with the means to begin healing their broken marriage.
Steve Kulanich, who comes to live with the Bentleys when his father and his live-in lover are forced to leave town, abandoning the twelve-year-old boy. He is quick-tempered and accustomed to fighting with the respectable boys who taunt him about his parents. His temper, which leads him into several fights with the twin sons of the influential Mrs. Finley, and his persistent Catholicism, even after he is adopted by the United Church minister, disturb the congregation. The Catholic orphanage authorities are called in and take Steve away.
Mrs. Finley, the president of the Ladies Aid and “first lady” of the congregation. She represents much of what is petty and mean-spirited in Horizon. She is a thin woman, concerned with her status and power, who manages everything. She increases Mrs. Bentley's feelings of inadequacy in her roles as housekeeper and parson's wife.