Isolation

All the important characters in the book have been ostracized by society or are on the outside by circumstances both within and beyond their control. Joel is essentially an orphan due to his mother's death and his father's paralysis. Joel never fits in with his aunt's family and misbehaves as a way of showing resentment for his situation. Joel's father, Edward Sansom, is the most physically isolated character in the book due to his paralysis and inability to communicate. Miss Amy's isolation appears in the form of being married to a paralyzed man with whom she has a caregiver's relationship, not one of love. Randolph is isolated because of his homosexuality with which he comes to terms after the attraction to Pepe Alvarez. As an artist, Randolph shows more sensitivity than most men and feels things deeply, qualities which were probably unattractive to Pepe, whose macho identity would...