1) AHWSG Revision- Chapter Summaries, Key Quotes and Themes

Chapter 1

Summary: 

In Chapter 1 the reader is immediately introduced to the illness that is consuming the family. The illness surrounds the whole family and is the main factor for the way the relationships of the family are presented. Illness in this chapter is shown through long, drawn out detailed descriptions. In this chapter Eggers has to take responsibility  after the death of the father and later on the mother. 

Key Events:  

• Death of father (33)
• Death of mother (45)

Themes:

Relationships in this chapter are shown and presented in a number of ways:

1) The brotherly relationship with Toph- shown through the short agency pairs

2) The insignificant and mysterious relationship with the father -"We had never heard anything about our father" (35)

3) The responsibility Eggers feels over his relationship with his mother- the plural pronoun "we"

Responsibility is another key theme of the chapter it is presented by:

1) Dave feels confined by the overwhelming sense of responsibility over his family- plural pronoun 'we'

2) After the death of the father, there is a shift in responsibility- from when the father 'sat us down' and told them 'you're mothers going to die" to Eggers and Beth deciding to take the mother to the hospital (27)

Death is presented in this chapter by:

1) Death is something that cannot be prepared for, it is sudden- contrast of illness to actual death of mother (45)

2) Death is surprising- fathers death punctuates the mothers (33)

3) Death for the mother and father is almost presented as a form for freedom for them as well as for the family- "we go through the windows and fly up" (45)

Illness and Loss are also key themes in this chapter, they are presented by:

1) The illness forces Eggers to detach self from his mother - scientific lexis (20)

2) Illness is consuming - time is being played with throughout chapter especially around death of mother "today-- is ---her -- birthday" (38)

3) The illness traps Eggers mother- 'couch' metaphor for her illness she is confined.

4) The illness is presented as imaginary- alien imagery (4) 

5) The loss of the mothers physical attributes- "strong" "powerful" muscles" (15), however still strong in the memories.