Summary Of Andre Dubus III's House Of Sand And Fog

The story of House of Sand and Fog in the film is similar to the novel, but some of the novel’s nuances are lost in the film because of the director’s vision of the story and movie constraints. Even with that movies tries to stay very close to the novel. The novel and movie is about a Persian man, Mr. Behrani, and his family is forced to leave their home country due to political strife go America, and while in America they try to maintain their lifestyle that had been accustomed too. This leads them to use up almost all their money and man of the house has to save his family from poverty, and he invests a house that was stolen by the government. The original owner, Kathy, wants the house back, but which cause her to make a series of irrational decisions that lead to her and the Behranis downfall. Comparing the movie to the novel is hard because of something certain thing being change and cut to better suit the director’s vision and a visual medium.

Then Connie went through this whole change that altered her world. Surely, Connie still has that determination that made her want to gain maturity and have the cleverness to hide stuff from her parents. She still has a double life, however, one of those lives might take some time to reappear. The point of view in third person limited is what makes this story what it is. The point of view has shown that Connie somewhat thinks she knows what other characters are thinking throughout the story, sometimes the point of view seems to shift, and what the author accomplishes by choosing this narration. The epiphany Connie has had about growing up in the world has changed and she will now learn how frightening the actual world

After the accident, Jamie’s mother tells her, “You know you got to help them,” referring to Charlton’s family (Rash 246). Her mother expects Jamie and Matt to give up all their dreams and plans, including their house, to help them. But the reason Linda, Charlton, and their family have no money is because they waste it on booze, unnecessary make up, and an abundance of vehicles that are not needed. Jamie feels there is no reason to give up what she and Matt have when there is plenty of other ways for Charlton to receive help. Jamie’s mother believes, “That lake house, you had no right to expect such a place so young… It was a miracle you got it in the first place. You cannot expect miracles in this life, girl.” Jamie will not sell her miracle and says “Maybe not, Momma, But when they come a person has got the right to take them” (Rash 247).

Arnold Friend’s layers of deception. Connie’s blindness is the pretext of her loss of innocence

To begin, this story takes place in New Jersey. The author introduces Sam who is dealing with his mother Sandra. His solution to this problem is to persuade his father to sue. The author explains that he wanted to move with his father. The author also introduces us to Phyllis who is Sam’s father wife, which is now sam’s stepmother. The author mostly focuses on Sam and his mother Sandra the relationship between the two. Such as the shouting, smoking, bringing in different boyfriends every week. Also about the letter that Sam wrote his mother regards of his decision. “Everything!The cooking, the cleaning,the shouting . Everything!”[Schwartz pg. 87]. This quote refers back to the article about his mother Sandra. The most important detail provided by the author in the beginning of the story are important because they demonstrate that Sam persuades his father to sue his mother so

Terry’s guilt begins to be harder to bear as he gets closer to Edie. He is starting to look at Johnny Friendly as a criminal, a man that shouldn't get away with murder, instead of a powerful man in which he should fear. Terry’s values are shifting as he starts to ponder testifying. He sees the pain in Edie as she wants answers of who killed her brother.

When Kathy and John first got married they enjoyed each other?s company ?they had fun shopping together, picking out cheap furniture, and old rugs.? Kathy was John?s first priority; he seemed more relaxed and content in her eye. That was until politics took a role in their life. ?Kathy despised it all. Every *censored*ty minute. The political wifey routine. She used to get the shakes out in public.? He is the link to her disappearance. His Vietnam secrets and betrayals pushed Kathy towards the edge. ?Kathy got pretty scared sometimes. The detective act. The stuff you?d yell in your sleep. It gave her the heebie-jeebies.? When Kathy thought about his spying games, and how politics seemed to be more important then her, it gives the reader the impression he is no longer a loving man in

That causes external conflict. Sal’s dad never told her about them going to move to ohio by mrs.cadaver.and there house is small has one tree and small patch of grass. “Where are the trees”? I said. Where's the barn”?. Where's the river where's the swimming hole”?. Sal does not know why her father did not tell her about the move and her mom and mrs.cadaver. “I asked why my father had not told me how he had met mrs.cadaver and she said he didn't want to upset you”. When sal didn't know about Mrs.cadaver,the bus, or her mom she was angry,and mad at her dad but now she gets why her father moved them he did it for

She wanted to be a role model for her children and at the same time, she wanted to become friend with them. Helen valued education, and she wanted Julie to go to college and have a successful life. However, after she found out that Julie had secretly being together with Tod, the poor, unambitious man. She was disappointed, betrayed, sad. Julie moved out of Helen’s home. Later, when Helen found out that Julie and her husband Tod had nowhere to live, she let them move in with her. She is a permissive parent, yet, she cares about her children, provides them as much support as she can. Helen stayed calm when Gary told her he wanted to live with his dad for a while. I can see her heart was bleeding when she heard her son’s words. She gave Gary his father’s phone number anyway, and Gary talked to his dad over the phone and figured out the cruel fact that his dad didn’t care for them anymore. Helen wanted to comfort Gary but he refused to talk. I felt Helen’s guilt and desperation at that moment. After she broke into Gary’s room and found out that Gary was carrying the bag that contains pornography, she immediately asked Tod’s help to talk to Gary. She had a chance to talk to Tod and had learned that Tod came from a broken family. She had a better idea of who Tod was and his help to Gary gained Helen’s respect. Helen supported Tod and helped her daughter Julie overcame the tough situation in marriage. Helen

If she could not put down a security deposit for the apartment she wanted. It would have resulted in her getting a hotel, which is ultimately more costly. She wouldn’t be able save money on food because the low price hotels do not have kitchens to cook in, and healthcare is very expensive if you cannot afford health insurance. It was clear that she need another job to make ends meet. So that is exactly what she did. She gets a second waitressing job at Jerry’s. Jerry’s is no better than Hearthside, but the pay is much better. Because of time she is scheduled to work at Jerry’s conflicts with Hearthside, so she decides to quite Hearthside. To save more money she decides to move closer to Key West. She moves into a trailer in the Overseas Trailer Park. After working for a month in waitressing she gets another job in housekeeping at a hotel. She works from 9 am to whenever she finishes her work. She only last at the hotel for one day. That afternoon she heads in to work at Jerry’s. Jerry’s begins to be too much for her. From being sleep deprived and tired she couldn’t take it any more especially when Joy starts screaming at her. She walks out of Jerry’s never looking back to return.

The novel House of Sand and Fog, written by Andrew Dubus III, is a story about how society, events from the past and present situations can affect people’s persona, anima/animus, shadow and self which eventually influences their decisions about life. Dubus explores the conflict between two completely different people with opposite persona. Colonel Masoud Behrani, once a wealthy man in Iran, is now a struggling immigrant willing to bet everything he has to restore his family’s dignity. Kathy Nicolo is a troubled young woman whose house is all she has left, and who refuses to let her hard-won stability slip away from her. These two characters are drawn by their competing desires to the same small house and domed by their tragic inability to

"House of Sand and Fog," by Andre Dubus III, explores the catastrophic repercussions of a complex misunderstanding between three characters. The conflict initially involves a dispute between Kathy Nicolo and Massoud Behrani over the “rightful” ownership of a house. The county wrongfully evicts Kathy and Behrani then buys her house at an auction. When Deputy Sheriff Lester Burdon enters the situation, events quickly slip out of control. Superficially, Lester’s character is important to the novel because he acts as a catalyst, propelling the plot into unexpected action. But Lester impacts the novel in a more profound way, because were it not for his insecurity and selfishness, the rest of

She lost another love by the name of Oluf, could not find much work, and lost hard-earned money through a bad business investment. After all this peril she took Russell and Doris and moved to Baltimore. Another move equaled more stress, less money, and more struggling to get by. With what seemed to be the world against her, she made it. She remarried, bought a house, and became the success she demanded of herself. Every step of the way Russell was exposed to all the ups and downs. His mother’s life during those times shaped and influenced his own.

One of the vital things in this novel is its setting. The major conflict in the story occurs at the northern west angle of Minnesota. The major characters in the novel, John and Kathy chose this location because of its isolation. This setting helps in shaping the story because that is where Kathy disappears, and the rest of the novel shifts attention to her search. Another important element in the setting of this story is the American political environment. When John enters the race for the Senate seat, the conflict between him and Kathy emerge as it reduces the interaction of the two. In addition, his involvement in politics unearths his involvement with Charlie Company which leads to his dismal failure in politics. As the two continue to relax in the woods, many past events begin to resurface, and

The narrator undergoes a complete personality makeover when Tyler emerges. When they first meet, the narrator thinks Tyler has a soap making business, and works as banquet server until he gets his business off the ground. The narrator is a more laid-back, average sort of man and Tyler is an aggressive outgoing, confident, attractive man, with out fear. He is everything the narrator would like to be. The first event that leads us into this plot, is that after meeting Tyler the very first day the narrator?s condo is bombed, he ends up with nothing and nowhere to live. He calls Marla then changes his mind and moves into what he thinks is Tyler?s House. This house should have been torn down because the electricity and leaky plumbing do not work correctly, and it has a dirty water problem in the basement. This abandoned house is a real sight and the total opposite of his former life conditions. The narrator goes from riches to rags so to speak and it leads the audience into believing the rest of this story. The narrators shattered reality continues, and gets the audience ready for the next chain of events.