How do the experiences, feelings and thoughts of Helena Kingshaw contribute to events in the novel?

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How do the experiences, feelings and thoughts of Helena Kingshaw contribute to events in the novel?

The experiences, feelings and thoughts of Helena Kingshaw contribute greatly to events in the novel.

        

Before she went to live with the Hoopers in Warings, Helena Kingshaw was married to another man, Kingshaw’s father. From the incident about the swimming pool as mentioned in the novel, where Kingshaw’s father was oblivious to his plight, we can tell that there are some similarities between Kingshaw’s father’s attitude towards Kingshaw and Helena Kingshaw. Therefore, Mrs Kingshaw’s lax attitude towards Kingshaw could have been affected by her former husband’s. Her attitude towards Kingshaw has seeded many of Kingshaw’s problems in the novel.

 

        After Mr Kingshaw died, Mrs Kingshaw was thrown into poverty, insecurity, and the state of homelessness. This could have changed Mrs Kingshaw as she had to start to bring up Kingshaw alone, juggling his care with the need for money, security and a home. Kingshaw realizes this: “It was his father’s fault … his dying had been the start of all, the not having enough money, and living in other people’s house”, as he thinks about the distance between his mother and him.

 

        Mrs Kingshaw sees potential in Mr Hooper as he can provide her with everything she needs, and so, actively tries to impress Mr Hooper and Edmund Hooper, neglecting her own son in the process. This brings about the growing distance between Kingshaw and Helena Kingshaw, preventing Kingshaw from properly confiding in and going to Mrs Kingshaw for help. Thus, Mrs Kingshaw’s longing for everything, she needed in her experiences, and desperation to get it from Mr Hooper, have contributed to Kingshaw’s plight throughout the novel.

 

        The experiences of Mrs Kingshaw’s have fuelled her intentions of inconspicuously wooing Mr Hooper, who has money, a home and security, which she lacked in her past life. This has led to their growing relationship, and finally, her marriage to Mr Hooper near the end of the novel. Again, this has distracted her from taking proper care of Kingshaw.

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        Her feelings are highly important in contributing to events in the rest of the book. Her need for companionship is revealed by her thoughts. “I have missed a man … the reassurance and feeling of strength through physical contact.” She is concerned about how Mr Hooper feels about her. She also feels attracted to having a highly social life, as can be seen, from her planning of the cocktail, of which she was “as excited as a girl”. She apparently enjoys meeting important people, of which she specifically mentions in this novel. Also, she places much importance on family ...

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