Impulsive Emotional Situations, Cautious Business Circumstances

In Allegra Goodman’s The Cookbook Collector, caution and impulsivity as ways to make decisions are compared. This is primarily through the actions of the two sisters, Emily, who is cautious and plans ahead, and Jess, who carries out actions as soon as she thinks of them. In general, the novel states that a person should strive to be both cautious and impulsive, because neither form of decision making is always the best. Additionally, I believe the novel is more specifically saying that one should be cautious when making decisions based on financials and business, but impulsive when making emotional decisions.

Emily is the sister that most clearly exemplifies all things business related. She is described as “an MBA, not a programmer” whose “hazel eyes were clever, guarded” (5). Her company, Veritech, does very well for the majority of the novel. Therefore, her cautious and guarded approach to her business is primarily successful. However, Emily is also primarily cautious in her relationship with Jonathon. When they are trying to pick out an engagement ring, she is described as having “looked and looked” (66) without finding a ring she liked. Then, near the end of the novel in one of Emily’s chapters, the narrator states “Love was all very well, but in the world outside, survival mattered most,” (298). This clearly refers to the idea that Emily’s natural cautious and concerned approach when it came to her business carried over into a cautious approach emotionally. Because of this, her relationship with Jonathon was often postponed, which ultimately hindered it significantly.

Jess’s impulsivity usually works for her when it came to decisions that were primarily emotional, such as when she and George first start their relationship (274). However, when financial decisions arise, her impulsivity gets her into trouble. This is particularly clear when she donates her stock to the trees and does not have enough after the market plummets to repay the money she owes the Rabbi (172). Additionally, the narrator states that when it comes to financial matters “She [Jess] did think like a student. That’s what she was,” (29). Because the reader knows that Jess is a grad student in philosophy, it is clear that she is not focused on making copious amounts of money in the future. She appears to be without a future plan, which lends to the idea that she is nearly always impulsive.

Near the end of The Cookbook Collector, each sister undergoes a change in their behavior the best method in decision making. Emily advises Jess to return to George, stating “If you keep deferring, everything gets old. Even love, eventually,” (377). It is clear that her opinion now is that it is better to make impulsive decisions in emotional circumstances, such as leaving immediately to return to a loved one. Jess’s change is more obscure. When she shows up to take care of Emily, she is wearing the suit that was her present in the beginning of the novel. This suit is a symbol for success in business, and the way she cares for Emily identifies that she is now planning ahead. These small changes in Jess and Emily are significant because they highlight the theme that impulsivity is ideal in emotional situations, and caution is preferred in business circumstances.