The House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III uses the theme of loyalty to show the importance of acts of cruelty as motivation. Kathy Lazaro, a cleaner, living in California had her home, which she inherited from her late father, wrongfully taken from her. She goes to the extreme to get it back from Behrani, a Persian Colonel, who was planning on selling the house to gain a profit. Kathy consistently shows loyalty to her family when cruel events happen to her. When Kathy’s husband, Nick, leaves her she keeps it from her family to remain loyal to Nick but also to keep them from worrying, she reveals her inability to handle conflicts. When Kathy’s house that she inherited from her father is taken from her she go to extreme measures in hopes of getting it back, this reveals her loyalty to her father. …show more content…
When Kathy was left by her husband she kept it from her family, she lived a lie as she would tell them about how she was traveling and meeting friends. Kathy repeatedly told lies in order to avoid not only the truth but conflict. It became a second nature to lie, “this should be familiar to me, her silence as I keep the truth” (364). Kathy’s lies were a form of loyalty, to Nick but also to her family as she did not want them to worry. Also Kathy understood that with the truth will come many questions, to avoid the questions and confrontation she avoid the
The story of House of Sand and Fog in the film is similar to the novel, but some of the novel’s nuances are lost in the film because of the director’s vision of the story and movie constraints. Even with that movies tries to stay very close to the novel. The novel and movie is about a Persian man, Mr. Behrani, and his family is forced to leave their home country due to political strife go America, and while in America they try to maintain their lifestyle that had been accustomed too. This leads them to use up almost all their money and man of the house has to save his family from poverty, and he invests a house that was stolen by the government. The original owner, Kathy, wants the house back, but which cause her to make a series of irrational decisions that lead to her and the Behranis downfall. Comparing the movie to the novel is hard because of something certain thing being change and cut to better suit the director’s vision and a visual medium.
There comes a time when a doctor, minister or politicians and an individual will tell a lie. It could be a white lie or big lie; most people almost generally resort to lying in certain situation. Often times a lawyer will lie in order to protect his client, or vice versa, a client will tell a lie in order to avoid being incarnated. There are many situations an individual will be placed in, and at some point in a person’s life they will need to tell a lie. Is it appropriate to lie? This is what Sissela Bok writes about in Lying: Moral choice in Public and Private Life. Bok acknowledges that despite numerous religious and moral statements against lying, people will still lie in certain situations. She will discuss and
"House of Sand and Fog," by Andre Dubus III, explores the catastrophic repercussions of a complex misunderstanding between three characters. The conflict initially involves a dispute between Kathy Nicolo and Massoud Behrani over the “rightful” ownership of a house. The county wrongfully evicts Kathy and Behrani then buys her house at an auction. When Deputy Sheriff Lester Burdon enters the situation, events quickly slip out of control. Superficially, Lester’s character is important to the novel because he acts as a catalyst, propelling the plot into unexpected action. But Lester impacts the novel in a more profound way, because were it not for his insecurity and selfishness, the rest of
Dubus illustrates many scenes where both Kathy and Behrani isolate themselves from their families. For example, when Kathy is at the motel reminiscing of her phone calls with her mother, we see how Kathy alienates herself from her family when she notes how “after Nick left,” she would “start lying about how well he was doing at his new job” and how “this used to be true” (44). By not telling her mother that Nick had left her, this demonstrates a clear example of her seclusion from her
As Dunny grew into adulthood, the guilt that he felt grew and continued to affect all areas of his life. Dunny’s life became intertwined with Mrs. Dempsters, and he felt responsible for taking care of her. Dunny agreed to take care of Mrs. Dempster when her aunt and lawyer died. “So I began then and there to maintain Mrs. Dempster, and never ceased to do so until her death in 1959. What else could I do?” (Davies, 162). Dunny took care of Mrs. Dempster out of the guilt that he felt, even though he didn’t have any money to support her. Dunny then felt guilty for not being able to financially support Mrs. Dempster, and eventually having to put her into a mental hospital. “So much against my will I got Mrs. Dempster into a public hospital for the insane, in Toronto, where I could keep an eye on her. It was a dark day for both of us when I took her there.” (Davies, 163). Dunny didn’t have the resources to take care of Mrs. Dempster, but no matter what he did, he couldn’t escape the guilt. “I dared not look back, and I felt meaner than I have ever felt in my life. But what was I to do?” (Davies, 163). Dunny didn’t have a choice, he knew that what he was doing was in Mrs. Dempster’s best interests, but it still pained him to upset her. Dunny then felt guilty for telling Mrs.
I read House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III. This story is one of classic tragedy which also contains a nearly unbearable amount of suspense. It tells a story of the conflict between people of different races who have an inability to understand each other. They each want possession of a small house in the California hills but for very different reasons.
Marry Karr’s The Liars Club is a haunting memoire, depicting a young Texan girls struggle to survive the trials of adolescence in home that finds stability in chaos and comfort in the abusive habits of her parents. Illustrating both fond and painful memoires from her past, Karr paints a complex image of the relationship she shared with her mother; giving readers everywhere the ability to relate and empathizes with the emotional complexity of their mother daughter relationship. This complexity of relationship can be explored in three main ways: the conflicting views Karr formed of her mother, In Karr’s
The novel House of Sand and Fog, written by Andrew Dubus III, is a story about how society, events from the past and present situations can affect people’s persona, anima/animus, shadow and self which eventually influences their decisions about life. Dubus explores the conflict between two completely different people with opposite persona. Colonel Masoud Behrani, once a wealthy man in Iran, is now a struggling immigrant willing to bet everything he has to restore his family’s dignity. Kathy Nicolo is a troubled young woman whose house is all she has left, and who refuses to let her hard-won stability slip away from her. These two characters are drawn by their competing desires to the same small house and domed by their tragic inability to
Billie and her mother used to fight a lot, when her mother was around. Much of the time Billie was left in the care of relatives or friends, many of whom were unloving (E). Billie's relationship with her family was very weak, as Billie throughout her life and career never or rarely got family approval or
The character of the mother executes the tell-tale signs of counterfeit happiness when she tells the murderous story of the narrator’s father’s brother. “‘Oh honey,’ she said, ‘there’s a lot that you don’t know. But you are going to find out’” (36).
Deception Jehan Fostanes Nayga had once said, “Know that to understand other people, is one way of helping them to grow”. In “Immune to Reality”, Daniel Gilbert states, “ Research suggests that people are typically unaware of the reasons why they are doing what they are doing, but when asked for a reason, they readily supply one” (Gilbert 131). Gilbert’s essay is based off the foundation of happiness and its unpredictability. However, happiness is an intangible chimerical feeling that often times is obtained with understanding and knowledge.
Katerina, like July, is also in need of an empathic, effective confrontation with special regard to reflection of feeling to deal with her ambivalence toward her family and her professional life. On one hand Katerina states that family comes first. That she ‘would like to be there when she is needed; that she ‘wants’ to prepare her children’s meals and help with their homework. But on the other hand she is so busy at
During the second session, the family was provided individual opportunities to relate his or her perceptions of the struggles in the family. Using Claudia as the identified patient, the family related struggles directly associated with Claudia’s behavior (Nichols, 2013, p. 15). Whitaker (1978) conceptualized the issues in a different perspective stating, “sounds like Claudia is in charge of getting Mom and Dad to start fighting, and you and Laura are in charge of helping them stop” (p. 11). Whitaker also indicated the parallels involving Carolyn’s anger at Claudia for hiding in her room and David’s propensity to hide in his study (p. 11). Using the unconscious frame of reference from session one, another conceptualization that was presented was that of Don’s willingness to talk as the reason that the family had not wanted to bring him to the first session (p. 12).
Another problem that causes tightness in family relationships is false. Reading the story "Judgment" readers systematically can face signs of insincerity from both the son and father. The men, in an unparalleled way, led each other by the nose, piling up the conflicts between themselves. George, apparently, seems to be a sensible young man who, after the death of his mother, takes care of his old father, home and business. However, when readers go further into his stories, it turns out that he hides some secrets. Even for George, it evokes different emotions, such as shame. By reading further, the reader finds out from this story, that taking over the initiative in the company was not a sacrifice on George's part, nor even a sense of duty,
Kapasi and Mrs. Das are incapable of reaching a true friendship because they are anxious to openly speak with each other. Mrs. Das’ confession has unrealistic expectations and was not used as a way of mutually exchanging ideas or building a relationship, but rather using Mr. Kapasi to interpret her maladies and gain forgiveness. Communication can become miscommunication if both individuals are not aligned in their expectations of the conversation.