How do you see the effects of intergenerational trauma playing out among each of the characters? Do you think they were successful in breaking the "Solomon curse"?

How do you see the effects of intergenerational trauma playing out among each of the characters? Do you think they were successful in breaking the "Solomon curse"?

Junior carries the pain of not measuring up as the oldest son, not able to carry the family traditions of both work and confrontation. Mance carries the burdens of the oldest son though he is the second, working with his father, repairing things and taking on grievances in the only way he was taught. CeCe carries the guilt of escaping from home and family, from dishonesty about who she really has become, and from leaving her younger sister on her own. Finally, Tokey, the youngest, carries the weight, both literally and figuratively, of remaining behind to help manage the Kingdom and her father as she imagines her mother must have done. In the end, I do believe each has broken through the demons of the "Solomon curse."

Donatshell you have explained it well. Because of the burdens of multiple generations, the each family story (history) is unique. I think that is why I love family sagas. The stories make each person interesting.

The pull of ancestral pain gnaws at each of the siblings, as well as King, Shad and Ellis. Ellis is the most successful in letting go of the past and he exhibits great maturity and fortitude in having done so. In the sense that the siblings are willing to destroy the "physical" part of the curse (the house), only their individual futures will determine how successful they can be in ridding themselves of the emotional effects of the curse.

I agree with donatshell and Muse48 on their well articulated responses!

In families that have had land passed down generations, I have seen many families split over the division or who inherits the land when the owners die. Owning land that has been handed down for generations gives most families immense pride of ownership. However our world has changed so much in my lifetime with technology and the opportunities new jobs offer, those who inherit the land have so many different ambitions in life. From what I’ve seen many don’t want to be tied to the land or be unable to be a mobile society. I wonder, 100 or more years ago, if the inheritance of land caused so many family riffs.

Intergenerational secrets hurt this family the most. The climax when the house comes down was a made for TV moment, but one I had a tough time believing they could come together to do. They were 4 separate characters,each different, each with their own issues. But they were not family to each other.

I thought one of the interesting moments was when Tokey realized history was repeating itself in her siblings. She didn't use the term "generational trauma," but really, that's what she was observing.

I do think that the four were able to change the trajectory of the path they were on and that the family began to heal.

I also believe that for most of the book they didn't treat each other as family, but that by the end of the novel they'd healed enough to be a family again. At least, I'd like to hope so.

I reread that last part when the house came down. I wondered this time if it was symbolic of King's hold over each one of the siblings.King was gone, and so was the house he cared so much about. Didn't that free theme to live the lives they were meant to?

I think that intergeneration trauma informs choices we make going through our lives. It is rarely the same experience for each person. It is both a wound and a responsibility. The pain is borne and remembered, the responsibility is to overcome the pain, try not to pass it on to one's children as a burden but also to make sure the pain is never forgotten. This respects the experiences and hardships of the ancestors but also fulfills the hopes that the descendants will move past and move forward.

I want to congratulate Donatshell and Muse 48 on their concise descriptions of the intergenerational pain suffered by the King family.

Sometimes the only way to get a fresh start is to get rid of something that has been the weight on the shoulders of those involved. In this case it seems to have been the land and house. At the end, the family members did seem to have come together somewhat. Prior to that, "family" to CeCe, Junior, Tokey, and Mance was more like the people they chose to be with who were not blood relations.