Character Analysis (ch.4-6)

Rachel K.

The World According to Garp is the life story of T. S. Garp, bastard son of proto-feminist nurse, Jenny Fields. Garp is reared by his loving, dangerously straightforward, and independent mother at an exclusive prep academy for boys, the Steering School. Jenny is a nurse at the school, and she lives with Garp in the school's infirmary. Garp is eventually old enough to attend the school and he becomes a champion wrestler. He falls in love with his wrestling coach's daughter, Helen Holm, and he works to become a writer to win her heart. After he graduates, he travels to Europe. Garp practices the craft of writing all through his high school years and is anxious for Helen's approval of his work, yet she is always reserved in her praise. Garp finds his artistic validation from an English teacher, Mr. Tinch, who encourages Garp to find his literary voice in spite of what others may or may not say. Garp does not lack for female companionship while Helen is away and is particularly fond of Cushie, one of the Percy girls.

After Garp's graduation from high school, he and Jenny move to Vienna for a year so that Garp may experience more of the world and develop some substance for his writing. It is now 1961 and Garp is fascinated by everything and tours the city voraciously. For all of his life, Garp had been strongly managed by Jenny but the situation is now reversed because Garp must help Jenny cope with the language, food, and transportation since she is not interested in learning the Viennese culture. This leaves Garp free to wander the streets where he soon encounters prostitutes, circus people, and all kinds of street people whom. He becomes especially close to one prostitute, named Charlotte, whom he sees more as a mother type than as a sexual outlet. Garp becomes a customer and friend to Charlotte until she dies from cancer, not too long after they become close. This emotional experience provides Garp with the drive he needs to write his first important story, "The Pension Grillparzer." He does have his share of prostitutes, while in Vienna, but he ends up in the most trouble, after sleeping with two American tourists. He ends up with an STD and has to go to Charlotte to find out a doctor because he knows that his mother would not believe that he did not get the disease form a prostitute, but in the long run Charlotte scolded him more than his own mother would have.

Helen is the daughter of Steering School wrestling coach, Ernie Holm. Helen's father brought her to New Hampshire from Iowa after her mother abandoned them. Helen is a bright, studious girl who is always reading. Helen tells Garp she will only marry a real writer, and the lovesick Garp is determined to become one. He demonstrates his ability after he graduates from Steering and travels to Vienna to write "The Pension Grillparzer." For Garp, Helen is the quintessential audience, the ultimate reader. She agrees to marry him. Their marriage triumphs over great adversity. The Steering School is still an all-boys school so Helen attends another school out of town. Because her father is the wrestling coach, if Helen had been a boy she would have received an exceptional education at Steering. She does not play too much of a role in these chapters besides as a stable base and literary critic for Garp.

Jenny Fields is the eccentric mother of Garp. She is a strong, independent woman who, as a young nurse in Boston during World War II, is ahead of her time. She lives alone, much to her family's chagrin. They believe that she must be leading a promiscuous lifestyle. Of course, nothing could be farther from the truth; Jenny has no interest in sharing either her body or her life with a man. She is basically asexual, and perhaps somewhat aloof, but she is not without warmth or passion. In fact, she discovers that she loves children as she works in the obstetrics ward of Boston Mercy Hospital. Jenny, who conceived the book's title character during World War II, manages to do so by having intercourse purely for the purpose of producing offspring. She does this by choosing a wounded, brain-damaged airman, in the hospital, who will never remember having had sex with her and who dies shortly thereafter. While in Vienna, Jenny prefers to remain in the pension, a European-style hotel. During her extended free time, Jenny begins to write an autobiography. Jenny is proceeding quickly with her book based on her premise that, "In this dirty-minded world, you are either somebody's wife or somebody's whore, or fast on your way to becoming one or the other." The title of Jenny's book, A Sexual Suspect stems from Jenny's wanting to have a job and also wanting to live alone, both desires which made her a sexual suspect in mainstream New England society. Jenny's wish to have a child without benefit of a husband adds to her "sexual suspect" persona.