Maybe too influenced by the fact that Irving had no father, he dealt with this topic with an intensity many bad, disinterested, or overstressed fathers can´t or don´t want to invest.Īutobiography and his writing are often the same and I couldn´t name a writer who added so much of himself, even very intimate and personal details, in his work. How they react, what they think, want, feel, how different their opinions and mentality are in comparison to the mothers, how stupid social conventions influence the child-father relations, and what true manliness is. Strong women, emancipation, and feminism are a key element of Irvings´ writing, possibly a side effect of growing up without a father and having an even deeper relationship with his mother, which leads to an idealization and glorification of femininity. Orphanages for kids that could have parents, but are born under the stigma of being illegitimate and thereby the societal death and endless disgrace and danger of ostracism for the mother, are a logical result and a part of the setting oft he bittersweet tragicomedy Irving serves the reader. How the bigotry, insanity, and inhumanity of institutionalized stigmatization of and hatred against women, especially regarding pregnancy, marriage and the control about bastardization of humans, lead to disgusting world views and practices that were omnipresent just a few decades ago and still are in many parts of the world, is a key element of the novel.
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