In addition, another situation that occurs in the Rabbitte family is when Jimmy Sr.’s friend Bimbo mentions to him what George Burgess said about Sharon. In the story, Mr. Burgess is a married man who sexually takes advantage of Sharon when she is drunk. As it turns out, Mr. Burgess is indeed the father of Sharon’s baby, but Sharon does not tell anyone about this (Doyle 44). Still, when Jimmy Sr. is in the pub, Bimbo tells him that Mr. Burgess said “she (Sharon) was a nice ride” (Doyle 78). Jimmy Sr. becomes enraged by this and finds it pathetic that an older man is talking offensively about his daughter. Throughout the story one can see that Jimmy Sr. is affected by this because he stops attending the pub since he feels ashamed that his daughter had sexual intercourse with a man that is older than him. As it turns out, when Jimmy Sr. sees Mr. Burgess he threatens him. Furthermore, when he sees Mr. Burgess’s friends he thinks that they are talking about his daughter and he punches one of the men (Doyle 142). The way that Jimmy Sr. deals with people who talk about his daughter or his family is through violence. Threatening Mr. Burgess and punching his friend is Jimmy Sr. way preventing criticism.
Likewise, Veronica doesn’t like when the neighbors spread rumors about her daughter. In the story, a situation occurs with Veronica and Mrs. Burgess. As it turns out Mr. Burgess states in his letter to his wife that he has left town to be with a girl that is expecting his child. Mrs. Burgess is furious about this and talks to Veronica. Unfortunately, Mrs. Burgess does not get a chance to insult Sharon because Veronica punches her in the face before the offense is declared (Doyle 117-118). Veronica resorts to violence in a humorous way because she does not want people spreading rumors about her daughter. Jimmy Sr. and Veronica’s actions are similar because it is their way of avoiding criticism and it is also a form of protecting their family’s reputation.
On the other hand, Sharon deals with the Mr. Burgess situation differently. When Jimmy Sr. confronts Sharon that people are talking about the statements that Bimbo made about Sharon being a “good ride”, she responds by saying she can protect herself and takes the remark as a compliment. Even though Jimmy Sr. laughs about it, he states that he isn’t going to have anyone talk negatively about his family (Doyle 81-83). In addition, Sharon confronts Mr. Burgess about what he said and threatens to tell him that she will tell his wife about her pregnancy. In the end, Sharon walks out laughing about the whole situation (Doyle 86-787). Thus, in certain events Sharon’s way of dealing with criticism is by laughing it off whereas Jimmy Sr. and Veronica resort to violence in order to evade criticism from others.
Just how the Rabbitte family used violence and humor to avoid criticism, another issue that was seen throughout the story is Jimmy Sr. and Veronica’s intimacy. For example, Jimmy Sr. avoids intimacy when his wife makes the family dinner. He feels like he should give her a kiss for such a great meal but doesn’t because he doesn’t want his sons to make fun of him for being affectionate in public (Doyle 17). Instead, he decides that he will give his wife “choc-ices” as a form of expressing his gratitude. Furthermore, later on in the story Jimmy Sr. attempts to make a move towards his wife by grabbing her “bottom,” and as it turns out she ends up hitting him with her hairbrush(Doyle 154). This further shows how they tried to avoid intimacy, and it also shows that it is done at the wrong time as well. Then, when Jimmy Sr. decides to buy and read a pregnancy book he is learning a lot of things about sex that he didn’t know before. Thus, through the help of a book he decides to try these moves on his wife which works and makes their intimate relationship stronger.(Doyle 175).
Moreover, the Rabbitte family is able to use humor in different ways, what remains important all through the story is the family stays united and remains strong when times get hard.
In the story Veronica is portrayed as a mother and a housewife, she is always in the kitchen, and if she is not there she is either making the kids clothes or dealing with the children. There is one scene that shows how Veronica can play a simple joke on her husband. For example, Jimmy Sr. gets upset because he is always having the same sandwiches for lunch, so Veronica tells him that this time his sandwiches are corned beef. As it turns out, they were actually easy slices, which she finds very hilarious (Doyle 39-40). In this case, this scene shows how Veronica is not always portrayed as a tired and serious person, when she has the opportunity to play a joke she does. Consequently, the family is always kept together because they are almost always playing jokes on each other and laughing about every day matters.
Additionally, in the story the reader is able to tell that Jimmy Sr. is changing and cares more about his family than previously thought. For example, he starts devoting time to his son Darren and helps him start a bicycling club. There is a part in the story where Jimmy Sr. is cutting his lawn and is simultaneously timing how fast the boys ride their bikes. This scene is funny because he is using a stopwatch and is making up the time since he does not know how to use the watch. He is ashamed to ask for help and does not want anyone to laugh at him and think of him as an unintelligent man. In general, the main idea of this scene is that he is a changed man and is more involved with his family.
Furthermore, Jimmy is becoming more involved during Sharon’s pregnancy, when Sharon is irritable he blames it on her hormones and when they talk about “sex and foreplay” they laugh about it (Doyle 171-172). This not only shows how Jimmy is becoming a caring father and husband, but it also shows that the bond between father and daughter is stronger because they are both able to talk about things that they would have never talked about before. In the end, what at one point threatened to separate the family is what actually brings the family even closer. Thus, at the end of the story, when Sharon decides to name her baby Georgina, it shows that the family has to face the fact who the father is. But the father doesn’t matter because as Jimmy Sr. states “if it looks like Burgess’s arse. I’ll love it.” (Doyle 163,215)
Thus, the reader is able to see the changes that the Rabbitte family has gone through. Although there were some instances when the family appeared to separate from each other, there were other instances where the family cared about each other. Doyle demonstrates the way of life for the Rabbitte family with the use of slang and improper words. He is able to capture the humor from the actions of the different characters. Jimmy Sr., Sharon and Veronica are examples of characters that dealt with criticism, intimacy and keeping the family together. Despite the fact that the Rabbitte family may be fictional, they still represent what any regular family may experience.
References
Doyle, Roddy. The Snapper. London: Secker & Warburg, 1990.
