The First House

 Drawing of the first Dollanganger house. It should be a house from the Fifties.

Bible Citation

This is the meaning of the first bible citation we find at the beginning of Flowers in the Attic:

Woe to you who strive with your Maker, earthen vessels with the potter! Does the clay say to the one who fashions it, "What are you making"? or "Your work has no handles"?

After Cathy lost her father in a car accident  and then  brought to live at Foxworth Hall, she started doubting God as the best judge and until the end of the novel, the reader can see that she  is still left with a feeling of resentment towards God. 

Even though in the prologue of her book she asks  God for help, saying that God in his infinite mercy would help her find a publisher who would put her words into a book, the ending may suggest that Cathy still holds a grudge against God. I like to explain the contradiction by noting that by the time Cathy wrote the book, she may had matured more and she may  had  also realized that she may had committed acts that made her situation at Foxworth Hall even more difficult. The narrator point's of view of God had changed since she left Foxworth Hall and began writing her account of what during the time she was imprisioned at this place. 

This bible citation in itself implies that you should not contend with your maker: God, because at the end you will lose. And this Bible citation may also  be used  by the author to ask in a metaphorical way, why is there so much suffering and dead in the world.  

Ada or Ardor

Vladimir Nabokov’s masterpiece Ada or Ardor has been very acclaimed by the critics since its publication in 1969, like Flowers in the Attic, this novel deals with challenging family dynamics. Both novels are presented as family chronicles taking place in not conventional scenarios and narrated with an elegant and simple prose that is both sensual and satiric.

 Ada or Ardor takes place in an alternative historical frame in a place called Antiterra, Flowers in the Attic takes place in the known United States but most of the plot takes place in the room and attic of an old estate with peculiar characteristics. Both scenarios accomplish  not letting the reader get very strong references of the cultural and historical happenings of the time in order to give more intensity and mystery to the story.

Even though the common subjects, both stories are very different when it comes to the plot and the character’s life experiences, it’s instead in the style of writing where these two works of fiction find more similarities, both novels are written with a very simple yet very deceptive prose that captivates the reader with its sensuality and satiric power.

 

Dealing

Chris is an aspiring doctor, but this dream becomes more a case for frustration than happiness when he realizes how difficult and expensive  is to become  a doctor. Cathy tries to be understanding to Chris's frustration but at the same time she realizes that her intution urges her to leave Foxworth Hall before is too late.

A Love Post

The world may be an attic that we are all trying to escape, some philosophies teach that if you don't find real love in this life, you will be trapped  in the world . I don't know if it's true, but finding true love may mean different things to every person.  Things get better when love guides your life, although in doing that you choose a more difficult path, it will be worth it and you will find true happiness. This is a drawing trying to show the complexity of making sense of what sometimes doesn't make sense. Also an attempt to see FITA more as an allegorical novel.

Flowers in The Attic by ~crobl005 on deviantART

The Road to Riches

The Road to Riches

"It was totally dark when we stepped from the train, and as the conductor had warned, there was not a house in sight. Alone in the night, far from any sign of civilization, we stood and waved good-bye to the conductor on the train steps..." ( page 37, Flowers in the Attic, August 2005)