Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant - Review.

I feel concern for Pearl’s success because even though she was hard on her children, and she may not have been the best mother in terms of abuse, it is obvious that she wanted to do the best job possible raising her children without a father.  I feel that there is a lot to admire in Pearl.  She is extremely independent and resourceful, sometimes to the detriment of herself.  She is also as tough on herself as she is on her children.  It appears that Pearl learned from her mistakes as a mother as she redeems herself by becoming a better grandparent than she was a mother and allowing her children to make their own decisions and mistakes.

Cody, Pearl and Beck Tull’s eldest son, is the least sympathetic character in Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant.  A troubled childhood contributed to some horrible character traits such as meanness, greed, and jealousy concerning Ezra, their mother’s favorite child.  Ever since Cody accidentally shoots his mother with an arrow when Ezra interferes with his aim, the competition between Cody and Ezra grows.  Cody emerges into an endless series of sneaky tricks to get Ezra in trouble.  Ezra remains unconscious for the most part to the practical jokes played on him by his brother.  When Pearl goes into one of her rampages, Cody attempts to protect the younger children from Pearl’s violence.  Cody repeatedly tried to win the maternal warmth that he already had for many years as Pearl feels affection towards Cody but does not often show it very well.  Later, Cody buys a farmhouse and imagines settling in with his family, something he never does in reality.  Nothing seems to bring much happiness to Cody, and he remains guilt-ridden, angry, and confused about his motivations until the last chapter of the novel when he confronts his father who left him more than thirty years ago.  During this chapter, Cody has a private conversation with his father Beck, who abandoned him as a teenager.  During the course of their conversation, Cody partly reconciles with some of his unhappiness and cruelty.  

Cody makes me feel unconcerned for his success because he was a horrible child who did not try to make it easier for his mother when she was trying to raise everyone after his father left.  Even though he was financially successful, Cody harbored a lot of guilt towards his father for deserting the family, which resulted in his character faults.  I would feel more concerned for his success had he tried to stay in contact with his family and if he had tried to help when his mother became ill.  The fact that he stole his brother’s fiancée, married her, and had a child with her, does not make me feel sympathetic towards Cody, but towards Ezra instead.

Ezra is the most sympathetic character in Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant.  Ezra is his mother’s pet and as an adult Ezra minimizes the abusive side of Pearl’s nature.  Many instances of his warmth and generosity exist.  He is the only family member to care of the dying Pearl; he tends to Mrs. Scarlatti, his business partner, when she is dying; he arranges the reunion between Beck and the rest of the Tull family; he even refuses to bear a grudge when Cody steals Ruth, the woman whom Ezra loved and intended to marry.  Ezra also gives and reciprocates strong affection to many non-family members, including his nephew Luke and his misfit friend Josiah.  Ezra’s tendency to see only the sunny side of life often renders him passive.  When he discovers a possibly malignant lump on his thigh, his first reaction is to let it happen and to go ahead and die.  He never attended college, never married, and never really left home.  Ezra channels most of his energy into making his restaurant a friendly, homey environment, even if it is not necessarily a financial success.  Throughout the novel Ezra makes an effort to have one uninterrupted family dinner at his restaurant but someone, often Pearl always destroys the continuity by departing early.  

Having a multiple view of Ezra makes me more concerned for Ezra’s success because it appears as though he is incapable of hating anyone.  He should hate his brother Cody for stealing his fiancée, not to mention all of the other things Cody did to him during their childhood.  Ezra repeatedly tries to heal his family by planning and hosting family dinners at the Homesick Restaurant and by the end of the book it seems at least possible that the family will be able to complete one dinner together.    Ezra appears to be the only one of the children that seemed to long for a sense of togetherness and that leaves me to have concern for his success.

Throughout Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, multiple viewpoints allow the reader to see what has happened to the characters in the novel from different perspectives.  Multiple viewpoints also allow the reader to develop certain amounts of sympathy for some characters while developing concern for others in terms of their success.  In the novel, Pearl has a hard time dealing with trying to raise her three children without a father, ever since her husband Beck decided he no longer wanted to be married.  Ezra is a character that never leaves home, and he is the only character in the novel that tries to keep the family together by hosting family dinners at his restaurant, which never seems to happen except for the final dinner after Pearl dies.  Cody is rather distraught after his father leaves, and never seems to overcome the guilt.  He partly reconciles with his bad behavior, history of hurt, and anger when he comes face to face with his father.  After reading this book, and hearing the story from different perspectives, it makes me feel concern for all of the characters because it appears as though they have come out all right considering what they have been through throughout their lives.  I think that by the end of the novel they all learned to come together as a family.