Opening Line
The opening line sets the stage for the pervasive irony to come. The very manner in which the couple at the heart of this story meet and fall in love is dripping with the sort of suggestively ironic undertones which characterize the narrative throughout:
“Harriet and David met each other at an office party neither had particularly wanted to go to, and both knew at once that this was what they had been waiting for.”
First Impressions
The first impression made by Ben upon his mother is not exactly an example of a perfect mother/son starting point. Harriet thinks to herself that he is not a pretty baby. And then, trying to pass it off as insincere by laughing, she speaks her thoughts out loud. The irony is that she is quite sincere and honest as future events will reveal:
“He’s like a troll, or a goblin or something.”
Nature versus Nurture
Part of the thematic tapestry is an examination of the old chestnut about which is more important in raising a child: nature or nurture. The twist is that the focus of this thematic element is not Ben the problem child, but the four “normal” siblings who came before. As more attention to taking care of Ben means less attention is paid to nurturing them, the natural-born normal kids all begin coming apart until eventually the whole family is utterly dysfunctional.
Bigger is Better
David and Harriet buy a house they can’t afford because it is big enough for a family they don’t even have yet. Why? Because bigger is always better. Every intention they have about their family unit fails to be put into practice except one: the plan for a larger family because a larger family is a happier family. The irony, of course, is that the family would have been a much happier one if they had stopped at four kids. An additional layer of irony arrives when the whole bigger-is-better perspective suddenly becomes untrue after the birth of Ben when David refuses even to have sex with his wife and run the risk of another kid.
The Apple
Metaphorically speaking, Ben is the ultimate symbolic offspring of the marriage of David and Harriet. The couple are intensely impulsive, present a strain on older family members, stubbornly cling to their own personal desires, and lead lives of self-centered desperation. The great irony of rejecting Ben from the first as monstrous is that what they are rejecting is their interior selves birthed into external matter.
