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Review Of ' Dinner At The Homesick Restaurant ' Essay

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Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant
Anne Tyler

The lasting effects of how a dysfunctional marriage plays a role in the adult lives of the children that were affected by it, specifically isolating Cody Tull.
Corey Weber
November 6, 2016

In Anne Tyler’s Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, one of the traits we see is the recurring idea of a dysfunctional marriage. This very idea is continually presented throughout the book, showing how multiple characters are affected by the same situation and how that circumstance changes their view on the world. We see this dysfunctional marriage appear in the beginning with Pearl Tull, contrary to popular culture at the time of the novel, left by her husband to raise 3 young children (Cody, Ezra, and Jenny) on her own as a single mother. The fact that their father, Beck Tull, deserts his family at such a young age of the children causes many issues throughout the relationships of the family members and those who become involved in their lives. As the children grow, we watch them evolve and make decisions, decisions that seem to be the exact opposite of what Tyler presented of their wants independent of each other. We see this most prevalent in Cody, where he is as absent from Luke’s life, as his father was in his. As we continue to unfold this book we find how the effects of a broken marriage take a toll on the relationships within a family. For young children, this can be devastating to the relationships they will have when

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