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The Three Weissmanns of Westport


"Schine's homage to Jane Austen has it all....A sparkling, crisp, clever, deft, ...
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Josie's view on life

Created: 08/12/11

Replies: 4

Posted Aug. 12, 2011 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
debracoley

Join Date: 08/11/11

Posts: 69

Josie's view on life

Do you agree with Josie,when at the conclusion of the meal with his girls, he states, "It (life) all
works out in the end"?


Posted Aug. 12, 2011 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
sarahd

Join Date: 10/16/10

Posts: 84

RE: Josie's view on life

I think that statement reflects more on Josie's character than it does on real life. Here's a man who left his family for a younger woman, refused to properly take care of his ex-wife, and then his ex-wife dies. Schine doesn't say so explicitly, but I think it's fairly clear that Betty would not have died if she had been comfortably ensconced at home, rather than living in a drafty cottage. In a way, you can see Betty's death as a result of Josie's treatment of her. I don't think Mirlanda and Annie would necessarily agree with this statement, either. Perhaps Miranda would see her relationship with Lynn as compensation enough for what she's lost, but I don't think Annie sees herself in a better situation.


Posted Aug. 14, 2011 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
joycew

Join Date: 06/13/11

Posts: 107

RE: Josie's view on life

What a platitude! I think it is a total rationalization for his behavior. I have many friends, including myself, whose husband took up with a younger woman. Usually it is age 55 to 60 and they think a younger woman will make them younger. They all rationalize that the wife is better off without them and that they couldn't "help" themselves, they just fell "in love". The teenage romance image is so strong and they want to recapture it. In my case I have a much happier life by myself, but I think it takes its toll on the kids and grandkids; as Miranda and Annie discover. The new wife is never really accepted and the father has lost a lot of respect from his kids.


Posted Aug. 14, 2011 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
duanef

Join Date: 07/19/11

Posts: 2

RE: Josie's view on life

I think the bigger statement here is that although we think we are living life in a reasonable way, we seldom take the big picture into consideration, much less give honest consideration to impact we have on our family. Sense doesn't always give way to grabbing a piece of life, while sensibility rarely allows for a life not based just on emmotion. Jane Austin's "Sense and Sensibility" make a case for each of these paths, but Cathleen Schine presents us a slighly different tilt. We must be both. Our lives are far more complex today and we must learn to value both our emmotional life and our practical life.

When Betty finds herself set adrift, she makes the basic change to survive, but denies the reality of her peril. Her daughters each have their own reasons for getting out of town and use the opportunity to deal with their own issues, but none of them seem to realize how inner connected they are.

I think these characters are very believeable, geniune and loveable. None seem too far fetched nor any of their actions out of character. The fact that Miranda would just decide to take up kayaking without a thought for doing it in open water.... Annie worries over the finances while Betty is oblivous to the amounts of money she spends to just keep up..... Funny stuff! The dialoge was right on for todays delimmas!

It matters not how a situation comes to us once it does... It matter how we deal with it. Things do "work out in the end"... that doesn't mean they worked out well... Josie did't sound too happy at the end. And he doesn't seem likely to have a change for the better. Felicity will have more control and he will have less freedom of choice. But it did "work out", just not as he thought it would!


Posted Aug. 15, 2011 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
dave s

Join Date: 05/19/11

Posts: 20

RE: Josie's view on life

I think the author was trying to indicate that Josie realizes he blew it but doesn't feel he can back, and so makes weak statements hoping in vain that his daughter will forgive him


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