Over the course of one’s lifetime, it is inevitable that some type of change will occur within them. In John Irving’s novel, The World According to Garp, the main character, Garp, undergoes a plethora of changes that ultimately shape the type of person he becomes.
For the first half of Garp’s life, his mother Jenny, who appears to be afraid of what the world has in store for her one and only son, constricts his life into what she wants. She shelters him to ensure that nothing bad happens to him, and to make sure that he does not cause other people problems. It quickly becomes clear that Jenny is used to being alone from her childhood, and does not wish to deviate from that in raising her son. In a way, she feels attached to him, and believes that she is all that he has, and vice versa. For this reason, Jenny attempts to treat him the only way she knows how, as if he was herself. When Jenny is introduced to Helen, and she is greeted as if she is Helen’s mother, she experiences a very strange feeling. “Jenny would also remember how it felt to be hugged like a mother, and would even note in her autobiography, how a daughter’s hug was different from a son’s. It is at least ironic that her one experience for making such a pronouncement occurred that December day in the giant gymnasium erected to the memory of Miles Seabrook.”(Page 84). This shows that Jenny, although she loved her son Garp, had never felt emotion like the one she experienced when Helen hugged her. This goes on to reinforce the concept that Jenny saw Garp as more of an extension of her, an item so to speak, than a son to which she was the parent.
As the novel progresses, the story’s setting is not the only thing that changes. When Jenny and Garp arrive in Vienna, Austria, a dramatic transformation occurs. Although there is still the common goal between Garp and Jenny to become writers, the way through which they try to achieve this goal is vastly different. Jenny rather than going out and about, chooses to stay home, in a way secluded from the outside world, and just focuses on her writing. The language difference serves as a barrier, much like the one that Jenny had put on Garp when she limited what he could and could not do as a child. Now Jenny is the one being separated and alone to focus on her work. Garp on the other hand has become much more animated and chooses to live the life on the go. He is in charge of going out and shopping for Jenny and himself, as well as cooking. It seems as if Jenny and Garp completely reversed roles in Austria, primarily because since Garp knew the language and Jenny didn’t. Garp was able to communicate enough with the locals to receive and give information. This change makes it as if Jenny has become the inferior and dependant member of this family, and Garp has matured enough to be responsible and take care of his needy mother. This reversal of roles also touches on jumping the barrier between gender roles. It seems rare that a growing young man like Garp would result back to cooking meals for himself and his mother, but in this case, a situation is thrown at him and he responds very well. The Steering school, and constantly being around all of the older boys, as well as Garp’s sexual experiences, have helped him mature very quickly and learn at an astonishing rate how to take care of himself, and many valuable life lessons.
It is ironic that Irving has Garp mature the way he did, primarily because of his father. Both of this story’s Garps had their lives drastically affected by Jenny, sex, and tremendous changes. In Garp’s father’s case, he was mobile and active until the war, and then was turned into a crippled man both physically and mentally. Garp himself however is the complete opposite. He started off secluded from everyone, and being restricted, and then essentially grew his wings and quickly took off into the world to experience it for himself. This contrast that is used shows that although they maybe be referred to by the same names, that does not mean that Garp has to follow in the footsteps of his father. Everyone is their own individual, and the life experiences that they go through determine how they will change and form their own unique personality. This is one major idea behind Jenny’s famous book, “A Sexual Suspect”, which highlights some major ideas about people being stifled by society and not able to express how they truly feel about everything. The primary factor in the maturing of a person is the changes that they face in their lives, and how they react to them.
In Irving’s novel, without a doubt, the main characters go through a wide array of changes that force them to adapt to whatever is thrown at them and move on with their lives. Although throughout the novel, Jenny and Garp constantly switch roles and transform themselves into two completely different people than from when they first arrived at the Steering School, both of them showed great deals of maturing and shaping their new lives. Garp and Jenny’s lives prove that destiny does not ultimately shape one’s life, but rather it is shaped by the modifications that one must face in an ever-changing society in order to survive.
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