Chapter 2 The Story of a Middle-Class Family Summary and Analysis

This chapter is a brief biography of Chambers. He is born in Philadelphia on April 1, 1901, named Vivian Chambers. His father is an art journalist. The family moves to Long Island when Whittaker is two or three. He has a younger brother named Richard. He recounts memories of his early childhood in this chapter. His father never wanted the house in Long Island and would never make any repairs to it. Any repairs that were made were done by Richard or Laha, who pawned her jewelry to have the wallpaper replaced. Jay never gave her the money to retrieve her jewelry.

The parents believed that the children should be exposed to the arts, so they took them to the museums and the theater. Theirs is not a religious household. Jay...