A Death In The Family Book Review

A Death In The Family Book Review
In A Death in the Family, James Agee tells the story of a family who experiences a tragic death and must learn to cope with the empty void that loss has left in their hearts. Based on the true event of the car accident killed his father when the author was almost six years old, Agee tells a very personal story that is direct and straightforward, but filled with emotion and power. This paper will review Agees story and the religious themes it has spread through out its plot.
The story opens up in Knoxville Tennessee, with man named Jay Follet who takes his young son Rufus on a trip to the movie theater to go see a Charlie Chaplin film together. They enjoy each others company and have a good time at the theater and after Jay makes a stop at the bar after the film is over, they go home. Later that night, Jay gets a phone call in the middle of the night from his brother Ralph who says that their father had another heart attack. This leads to Jay deciding that he must go and see his father and so early in the morning he sets off in his Ford car, only to find out upon his arrival that his brother had been drunk at the time of the phone call and made the situation sound a lot more serious than it actually is. He immediately regrets making the trip out there and sets out for home but gets in a car accident caused by a cotter pin falling out of the steering mechanism of his car, and losing control of the vehicle resulting in Jay hitting his head on the steering wheel and dying from the impact. From there, the story centers around the Follet family struggling to cope and adjust to this tragic event, revealing how young Mary Follet suffers the loss of her husband, and how Rufus and his younger sister Catherine are affected by the news of their fathers death. It also shows how the accident affects Marys atheist father and alcoholic brother-in-law. The story ends with Rufus going on a walk with his Uncle Andrew who tells him about how the priest didnt read the full burial service at the funeral because Jay had never been baptized, leading Rufus to wonder if, since Andrew hates religion, he also hates Mary and Hannah because they are religious.

Throughout the book there are two man roles religion plays that are closely tied together. The most noticeable of these is that some of the character development is based on their opinions and views on religion, such as near the beginning of the book where we learn that Mary is a very religious woman and is worried that her beliefs are coming between her and Jay in their marriage and prays to God that he will make Jay become religious like her. This gives evidence that the two of them have different views on the subject matter and that this is a major point of conflict in their relationship. Despite this fact, it seems that Jay and Marys marriage is stable enough to withstand their different ideologies.
This is also closely tied into another one of the roles religion plays in this story, and that causing conflict between the Follet family members. One of the best examples of this can be found in a scene that is early on in the story where Rufus is continuously asking his mother questions about death. In response, she gives him answers that stem from her religious ideology because she has strong desire to raise her children under Catholic principles. This however proves to be another struggle for her, as not only does Rufus have a difficult time accepting his mothers beliefs because they dont make logical sense, but also because the rest of her family members dont agree with her doing this, especially her father Joel and brother Andrew. This is because they feel like she is wasting her time and intelligence on worshiping her God and dont see any reason in trying to raise her children to do the same thing. Once again, this is not only an example of how religion causes conflict for Mary and her family members, but also provides the reader with more character development on how they view her passion for her religion.

James Agees A Death in the Family is a symbolic work of tragedy and adjustment that tells the story of a family who experiences a tragic death in their lives and must learn to cope with the empty void that loss has left in their hearts. By sensitively showing the impact of the death on each person and how each person tries to adjust to it, the novel succeeds in being full of real intensity and emotion. The book also gives its readers a look at what roles religion can play in a family household when one of their loved ones passes away and how others are impacted by those who are believers in a higher power than themselves.