The Dutch House Essay Questions

What are the parallels between Danny and Cyril?

Danny has more in common with his father than he might initially admit. First, he loves buildings just as much as his father does, not because his father does (although it may have started out that way). He only feels like himself and like he's doing what he wants to do in life once he's decided not to be a doctor and to start doing real estate instead. Both men like the progress, the small tasks, and the lessons learned and applied. Another parallel is that both men don't seem to know their wives very well. Danny certainly opens himself up to Celeste far more than Cyril does to Elna, but the most telling proof of this parallel is that both men buy houses for their wives without their input and approbation. When Celeste and Danny divorce, she tells him frankly that she never liked the imposing brownstone he bought her, which hearkens back to Cyril's ill-fated purchase of the Dutch House.

Why do Maeve and Celeste hate each other so much?

Maeve hates Celeste because she sees her as an impediment to Danny becoming who he is supposed to be. She almost derailed Danny's medical career, Maeve believes, and she continues to meddle in things which she shouldn't. Maeve also thinks that Celeste is too much of an outsider and has no real understanding of what she and Danny went through. Looking below the surface, though, it is possible that Maeve is simply jealous of Celeste being the central woman in Danny's life and that she may wish to preserve her close relationship with her brother as much as she can because he is all she has. As for Celeste, she thinks Maeve is responsible for her and Danny's initial break-up and decides that Maeve does not think she is good enough for Danny. Celeste also sees Maeve as bad for Danny because she holds him back in the past and wants to control him. Celeste may be too selfish to see what Maeve means to Danny: Celeste had a "normal," happy childhood, and she does not want to work to understand what it might have been like for Danny and Maeve.

Is Elna a saint or just a bad mother? Cite textual evidence in support of your view.

It is possible to see Elna as a bit of a saint and a bit of a bad mother. Elna truly has a heart for other people. She decries wealth and extravagance and wants to live a life of service and meaning. When she leaves the Dutch House and her family, she spends the rest of her life atoning for her choice. In her later years, she decides to truly test her humility and compassion by taking care of Andrea, a decision that might not make sense to most people but does smack of being saint-like in its self-abnegation and humility. On the other hand, Elna does leave her children. Their father loves them, but they end up with a stepmother who makes their lives miserable. Elna could muster courage to leave but not courage to stay. She set in motion childhood traumas that could not be easily undone. Elna ultimately eludes decisive classification, a testament to Patchett's ability to craft complicated characters.

What message, if any, does the novel have about the nature of family?

Despite the fact that Maeve and Danny rue the loss of their mother and father and any sort of "traditional" family structure, the kind of family they end up forming for themselves is sustaining, supportive, and nourishing. Maeve has Mr. Otterson and Danny has Morey Able; both of these older men are loving mentors for these parentless young people. Danny marries and starts a new family, and Maeve finds pleasure in being a doting aunt. They also keep or re-establish ties with the three women who played important roles in their childhood: Sandy, Jocelyn, and Fluffy. These women take care of Maeve and Danny in various ways, keeping them both connected to their past but also growing and evolving with them. All of these individuals are family to Maeve and Danny and cannot be discounted for their roles in helping the Conroy siblings survive and, in some cases, thrive.

Which is more central to the story: the house or Maeve?

This depends on the reader's broader analysis of what really constitutes the story of The Dutch House. One could say the house was the story and that the novel was about how this edifice saw shifting inhabitants and witnessed the vicissitudes of life. The house moves from Cyril to Andrea to May, forming the narrative arc of the Conroy saga. It represents different things as the novel progresses, with some of these overlapping: home, family, loss, memory, redemption, reconciliation, and renewal. On the other hand, the story is very much centered on Maeve. Maeve remembers her mother leaving; she becomes a lifelong mother figure to her brother; she feels the loss of the house the most acutely; she tries to keep her brother's life moving forward while creating a livable one for herself; she cannot forget her loss and dwells too deeply in the pain; she gets her mother back for the last year of her life and finally makes her peace with the past. Maeve is the center of the story: its beating heart and its wellspring of memory. Her pain, delight, and rage drive the story and make it memorable, even as the Dutch House might fade into the background.