The first thing that really struck me about Housekeeping was the water imagery that Robinson uses throughout the novel. It is as if she has made water and it's nature into its own character. Ruthie's grandfather is killed in a train wreck when it crashes into the water below the bridge, her mother drives her car into the water to kill herself, and the town itself is flooded whenever it rains. And, in the end, as the narrator and her aunt flee the town, they are described as being "above the water." Though that is their actual physical location, I also think this means much more. What are your thoughts on these and other references to water that I no doubt left out?
Does "good housekeeping" ultimately keep a good house?
What do you make of Lily and Nona, the two great aunts who care for Ruthie and Lucy after their grandmother dies? They only last the winter there, and don't seem to survive the flood. What drives them away? For that matter, what drives everyone else away from the town of Fingerbone?
Is Sylvie really crazy?
Is the house ultimately "kept" at the end of the novel? Is the ending positive or negative for you?
Does this story remind anyone else of Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper, or is it just me?
