Jessica's role in the novel

Up until this point in the novel, Jessica’s character has not been given a voice of her own. She is portrayed through other character’s eyes, but has not been portrayed through her own thoughts and feelings. The reader does not get a real sense of who she is; the reader only sees her through her family, who aren’t entirely reliable. Her mother does not connect with her the way most mothers connect with their daughters. They lack that female bond that mothers and daughter typically share. Instead, her mother chooses to bond with her brother and, in turn, sort of neglects Jessica. The one time she visits her at college her interaction with Jessica and Jessica’s boyfriend is so odd she seems to have no emotional connection with her own daughter. Jessica’s father sees Jessica to be more like him than Joey and connects with her more than her mother. But, he doesn’t “favor” her so that he won’t seem unfair. They talk everyday and he even says that she “looked after him that way” (337.) Her relationship with Joey is so not sibling-like and full of hatred it is hard to read about. Most siblings fight with each other but then get over it and continue being brother and sister, having that familial bond that differs from the bond they have with their parents. Joey and Jessica, on the other hand, seem to have never even remotely liked each other. When Joey talks about the time when his parents were gone and he had sex with Connie right next to Jessica, he did so because he wanted to get a rise out of his mother (264.) His motives seem to be driven from spite towards his mother and not towards Jessica.

Jessica, however, has not been given the chance to state her own opinions of her family members. Personally, I think it would be very beneficial and interesting to hear her views on her family from her own thoughts. She is the only semi-normal character in the novel and her opinions would be very interesting and insightful. She seems like she would be able to give a more reliable account of the emotions within the family.

The author gives some insight into the workings of Jessica’s mind when she is talking to Richard in D.C. She believes her parents still love each other (376.) She doesn’t say this from their actions and the way they treat each other, but because she knows who they are she can just tell they still love each other. Also during her conversation with Richard, the reader gets the first real look at who she is. Before this point in the novel the reader doesn’t really know who she is through narrative, but instead through the opinions and voices of the other characters.

I would love to hear Jessica’s side of the story through her thoughts and emotions. Hopefully this happens later in the novel, because it would round out the story better and make it less biased. It is probably the intention of the author to not include her story, but I believe it would be incredibly interesting.