November 09: A Death in the Family

November 21, 2009, Lois & Mark's
Book: A Death in the Family by James Agee.
Discussion leader: Emily

Continue reading for some of my notes and and links to articles that I found useful in preparing. Emily. 

Agee's perception of childhood

Much of the narrative of A Death in the Family is told from the point of view of children, and primarily through the eyes of Rufus. Agee uses childhood as a lens through which to perceive reality; a child's lack of guile is the best narrative avenue to present many of life's complications, as such presentation allows us to draw our own inferences. Children typify the questioning stance that every character in the novel must eventually embrace when faced with Jay's death.

Religion and Agee

Religion is probably the most notable topic of exploration in A Death in the Family. It is the greatest cause of discussion and strife within both the nuclear family of Mary, Jay, Rufus, and little Catherine, and in Mary's extended family. Mary and Hannah are the only two out of all of the family members who deeply believe in God and the Catholic Church.

Agee on memory

Throughout the novel, Agee explores the memories of a number of different characters, most notably Rufus.

Flashbacks, his most common means of doing so, gives us a view of which memories have stayed with the characters through the years. In seeing this, we gain insight into what events have helped to shape the characters' personalities.

The italicized passages, which give the most detailed memories, are all Rufus's except the introductory part before the beginning of the novel, titled "Knoxville: Summer 1915." The first memory describes, in almost poetic form, Rufus's fear of the dark when he was very small—young enough to be in a crib. His father comes in and sings to him for a long time, soothing the young Rufus. The long, detailed passages in which Rufus seems to have a conversation with the dark demonstrate what a sensitive child he is. At the time, Mary is pregnant with little Catherine, and the rest of the italicized passage discusses her pregnancy. The second passage in italics consists of three distinct memories: the boys who used to tease Rufus on their way to school, the visit to see Great-Great-Grandmother Follet, and a trip Rufus's family took when Uncle Ted played a joke on him. All of these events in the novel help to show how deeply affected Rufus is by various events, and primarily how eager he is to please those around him.

2008 Books

MONTH	HOST	BOOK
January	Lione	Faceless Killers
February	Almquest	All Quiet on the Western Front
March & April	NO MEETING
May	Grotta/Boudreaux	Fire in the Blood
June	Armstrong	Old Filth
July	Waltzer	North River
August	Simonetti	Four Souls
September	Lione	The Shack
October	Scheffler	Amsterdam
November	Grotta/Boudreaux	Loving Frank
December	Almquist	Mr. Pip

2007

DATE	HOST	LEADER	BOOK
February	Grotta/Boudreaux	Ronnie	Fatelessness
March	Armstrong	Mark	After This
April	Lione	John	Brooklyn Follies
May	Scheffler	Emily	The Great Gatsby
June	Waltzers	Sue	The Glass Castle
July	Armstrongs	Lois	Founding Brothers
September	Almquist	Wayne	Last Town on Earth
October	Grotta/Boudreaux	Lynne	The Light of Day
November	Scheffler	Jack	Pearl Harbor

2006

DATE	HOST	LEADER	BOOK
January	Armstrong	Mark	Veronica
February	Lione	Lynn	The Pearl Diver
March	Waltzer	Sue	March
April	No Meeting
May	Grotta/Boudreaux	Lois	The Devil in the White City
June	Almquist	Jack	House Made of Dawn
July	Waltzers	Jerry	My Antonia
August	Armstrong	John	The World of Apples
September	Almquist	Emily	Alentejo Blue
October	No Meeting
November	Scheffler	Kathy	Digging to America
December	Lione	Frank	Persuasion

2005

DATE	HOST	LEADER	BOOK
January	Scheffler	Lynn	The Bee Season
February	Grotta/Boudreaux	Kathy	Book of Salt
March	NO MEETING
April	NO MEETING		Sue's Birthday
May	Lione	Emily	The Piano Tuner
June	Waltzer	Lois	Disgrace
July	Armstrong	Jack	The Namesake
August	Waltzer	Kathy	History of Love
September	Grotta	John	Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
October	Scheffler	Ronnie	These is My Words
November	Lione ??	Wayne	Gideon
December	Almquist	Ronnie	These Is My Words

2004

DATE	HOST	LEADER	BOOK
January	Armstrong	Mark	Waiting
February	none
March	Lione	Emily	Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman
April	Grotta	Lois	The Unwanted
May	Scheffler	Kathy	Girl in Hyacinth Blue
June	Almquist	Sue	Atonement
July	Grotta/Boudreaux	Wayne	The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
August	Waltzer	Jerry	The Five People You Want to Meet in Heaven
September	Grotta	John	Roads
October	Lione	Ronnie	The Kite Runner
November	Almquist	Jack	The Captain's Wife
December	Armstrong	Mark	Postville

2003

DATE	HOST	LEADER	BOOK
January	Lione	Lynn	To The Lighthouse
February	Grotta/Boudreaux	Kathy	Southampton Row
March	Waltzer	Jerry	The Martian Chronicles
April	Almquist	Emily	Crow Lake
May	Scheffler	Jack	The Immigrants
June	Armstrong	Sue	The Piano Shop on the Left Bank
July	Waltzer	Wayne	The Heaven of Mercury
AUGUST	No Meeting
September	Grotta/Boudreaux	Lynn	Da Vinci Code
October	Lione	John	Bringing Down the House
November	Scheffler	Kathy	Sister of My Heart
December	Almquist	Ronnie	The Secret Life of Bees

2002

DATE	HOST	LEADER	BOOK
January	Armstrong	John	My Dog Skip
February	Scheffler	Kathy	Half a Life
March	No meeting
April	Grotta	Wayne	Keepers of the Truth
May	Almquist	Sue	Girl With a Pearl Earring
June	Waltzer	Lois	The Good Soldier
July	Armstrong	Jack	?
August	No Meeting
September	Almquist	Mark	The God of Small Things
October	No meeting
November	Scheffler's	John	Nickel & Dimed
December	Grotta/Boudreaux	Ronnie	? (Spartina?)

2001

DATE	HOST	LEADER	BOOK
January	Scheffler	Jerry	'Tis
February	Almquist/Armstrong	Eric	Midwives
March	Grotta/Boudreaux	Lois	Isaac's Storm
April	Waltzer	Mark	The Last King of Scottland
May	Scheffler	Kathy?	Plainsong
June	Almquist	Wayne	Gap Creek
July	Waltzer	Jerry	Christ Stopped at Eboli
August	Armstrong	Jerry	Christ Stopped at Eboli
September	Grotta/Boudreaux	Lynn	We Were the Mulvaneys
October	Almquist	Ronnie/Emily	While I Was Gone
November	(wedding)
December 2001	no meeting

2000

DATE	HOST	LEADER	BOOK
January	Liones	John	Answered Prayers
February	Almquist	Kathy	The Tesseract
March	Grotta	Wayne	Sights Unseen
April	Armstrong	Jerry	Pilot's Wife
May	Scheffler	Emily	Latitude
June	Waltzer	Ronnie	West With the Night
July	Lione	Lois	Henry and Clara
September	Almquist	Lynn	Poisonwood Bible
November	Grotta/Boudreaux	Sue	Samuri's Garden
December	Armstrong	Jack	Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter)