Amberson Essay
A Bond as Strong as String
The relationship between a mother, Isabel Amberson, and her son, George (Georgie) Amberson, is an unspoken bond that others cannot begin to fathom. Since the birth of George these two have a connection that can never be broken by an outside force, no matter how hard any person tries. In the novel, The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington, Georgie and Isabel’s relationship is seen as unusual and bizarre to their acquaintances because Gerogie commands his mother around like their roles are reversed and he is the parent. However, the fact that Isabel would do anything for George and protect him no matter how atrocious he acts justifies that their connection is still healthy and normal. Ultimately their relationship drives the novel along because his distinct “Amberson” upbringing affects his rationality and his emotions, resulting in his obsession to defend their family status. Even though readers are more susceptible to blame Georgie for his anomalous views of society and the way it functions, if people examine his actions deeper they will notice that his mother is responsible. Isabel chose to raise her son in traditional high society where children are spoiled and the adults act as immature as their offspring because they are naïve to a world outside of their own. She satisfies Georgie’s every whim and it results in the altering of her son’s rationality. Moreover, she had adopted the age-old theory that, “Mothers see the angel in us because the angel is there. If it’s shown to the mother, the son has got an angel to show, hasn’t he? When a son cuts somebody’s throat the mother only see it’s possible for a misguided angel to act as a devil…” (Tarkington 18). Georgie can be described as the “devil” due to his selfish actions and ill-mannered attitude yet in his mother’s eyes he still is an “angel.” His bad judgment and trivial view of the world, he picked up from his family, affects his rationality because he believes that his
The relationship between a mother, Isabel Amberson, and her son, George (Georgie) Amberson, is an unspoken bond that others cannot begin to fathom. Since the birth of George these two have a connection that can never be broken by an outside force, no matter how hard any person tries. In the novel, The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington, Georgie and Isabel’s relationship is seen as unusual and bizarre to their acquaintances because Gerogie commands his mother around like their roles are reversed and he is the parent. However, the fact that Isabel would do anything for George and protect him no matter how atrocious he acts justifies that their connection is still healthy and normal. Ultimately their relationship drives the novel along because his distinct “Amberson” upbringing affects his rationality and his emotions, resulting in his obsession to defend their family status. Even though readers are more susceptible to blame Georgie for his anomalous views of society and the way it functions, if people examine his actions deeper they will notice that his mother is responsible. Isabel chose to raise her son in traditional high society where children are spoiled and the adults act as immature as their offspring because they are naïve to a world outside of their own. She satisfies Georgie’s every whim and it results in the altering of her son’s rationality. Moreover, she had adopted the age-old theory that, “Mothers see the angel in us because the angel is there. If it’s shown to the mother, the son has got an angel to show, hasn’t he? When a son cuts somebody’s throat the mother only see it’s possible for a misguided angel to act as a devil…” (Tarkington 18). Georgie can be described as the “devil” due to his selfish actions and ill-mannered attitude yet in his mother’s eyes he still is an “angel.” His bad judgment and trivial view of the world, he picked up from his family, affects his rationality because he believes that his