Essay Questions

What is the significance of Melony’s character compared to Homer’s?

Melony and Homer, while raised in the same place, show two different extremes of having an unusual upbringing. Being raised in an orphanage, they didn’t get to experience the same things that most children would, such as plentiful books, steady schooling, films, and other pleasures. Because of this absence of normal experiences, Melony becomes bitter and angry, lashing out at anyone who tries to take advantage of her. Her bad experiences in her early life lead her to become overly defensive in her early life, which is common in people who have gone through the same things. This outcome is starkly different to Homer’s - in fact, the outcomes are almost polar opposites. Instead of becoming bitter and defensive at the world, Homer’s experience at the orphanage leads him to become sheltered and naive, unaware of the ‘bigger picture’ of the world around him. For example, when he first moves in with Wally and Candy, he doesn’t know what a drive-in movie is, and finds the simple experience of watching a movie to be very confusing. Throughout his time at Heart’s Haven he is shown to be different from others because of his ignorance. Thus, Melony and Homer show two different ends of the behavioral spectrum that an unusual upbringing can cause. Furthermore, this difference shows that while people are affected by the way they were raised, each individual person is affected differently, even if the upbringing was the same. This ties into one of the major themes in the text, which is the idea of upbringing and how it affects people.

What do the cider house rules, pasted onto the cider house, represent? What is the significance of this to the text?

The cider house rules represent the rules placed upon us by society. These rules, as shown through the major themes of the book, often discard the people who are lower down in society, and usually will harm them. For example, the illiterate workers at the cider house don’t follow the rules on the wall because they can’t read; this shows how some less privileged people don’t follow society’s rules because their upbringing won’t allow them to. Additionally, these rules, while they hide under the guise of protecting people, are often pointless and prevent people from enjoying themselves ‒ therefore, people often also intentionally break them. After Mr Rose allowing workers on the roof despite knowing that it’s not allowed, Homer confronts him, and finds that Mr Rose ‘has his own rules’, causing Homer to realize that the cider house probably had as many rules as it had people. This shows that despite the restrictive rules of society, being that people are individual and driven to do things their own way, they create their own rules for their lives.

How does Homer differ from others because of his upbringing?

Growing up at St Cloud’s, Homer doesn’t experience many things that most children would, and as a result becomes a rather naive and ignorant young adult. This only becomes evident when he enters the ‘normal world’ of Heart’s Haven and becomes aware of the world he had missed out on. However, despite experiencing this world, because of his early isolation from it he never truly fits into it. People don’t become totally comfortable with him and treat him differently than they do others. This leads him to still feel isolated despite being surrounded by people, and leads him to compare himself to a Bedouin ‒ not belonging anywhere, roaming. Said isolation also makes him realize that the only place he truly belongs is St Cloud’s.

What is the significance of the two main locations that the book takes place in?

The two locations of Ocean’s View and St Cloud’s seem to have no correlation. However, they have a uniting theme that bonds them together, which is growth. At the orphanage, while it is a difficult feat, Dr Larch tries his best to help the children grow and develop, teaching them things and treating them as well as he can. Ocean’s View is a place of literal growth, where the apple trees grow and are manufactured into new things such as cider. However, despite St Cloud’s obvious need for improvement, Ocean’s View is actually the place that has the least growth. An apple orchard is a neat, tidy place, where things are orderly and always the same, never changing. Change is an essential part of growth; and this is what Ocean’s View Orchards is missing, and what St Cloud’s has. St Cloud’s is a somewhat unpleasant place, yet deals with a lot of change, and Dr Larch is a leader of change in that he gives women safe illegal abortions. Throughout his years at St Cloud’s, Homer changes a lot, whereas at Ocean's View he remains in a state of pleasant mediocrity. This shows how these locations both show the theme of growth; one figuratively, one literally, yet how only St Cloud’s, the less pleasant of the two, truly achieves growth.

The Cider House Rules is a coming-of-age tale. How does Homer develop throughout the novel, and what is the significance of said development?

Despite all of its other themes, The Cider House Rules is, first and foremost, a coming-of-age tale. Homer begins the story as a boy with nowhere to go, isolated from society in an orphanage, which is viewed as a ‘waiting’ place. After time he becomes so used to the orphanage he feels that he truly belongs there. However, due to early pressure from Dr Larch, Homer soon goes out and becomes isolated again in society, where he lives a liminal life, seeming to be waiting for something undetermined. With help from Dr Larch, he finally returns back to the orphanage, and realizes that it is where he belonged the whole time. This shows how our upbringings affect us in more ways than we realize, and that we all have a place or a thing that we truly belong to, no matter how much we try to cover it up. Homer’s journey is a common one; it is a realization that one needn’t go looking for their own fate, for it might be ‘right at their doorstep’; in other words, our heritage or ‘roots’ are often what we truly belong to.