The Prince of Tides

A detailed Summary of The Prince of Tides

One theme presented in Pat Conroy's The Prince of Tides is that people have difficulty dealing with problems, so they run from them. People handle problems in different ways. Some people try to fix their problems but others don't know what to do and therefore run from them. Running from their problems seems like the right thing to do but in the end it just makes things worst because you can't run from them your entire life. In The Prince of Tides, Tolitha, Savannah and Tom had family problems and tried several things to escape them.

Tolitha is Tom and Savannah's grandmother who runs from her family in order to find adventure and happiness. "Her iconoclastic attitudes and behavior make her to some extent an even more amusing figure, though that in no way detracts from Amos's unique stature" (Burns 22). Tolitha leaves her husband Amos and her son Henry during the Depression because of a shortage of money. Amos was a barber and during the Depression he quit his job to preach the Lords word in front of a pharmacy. Amos was getting paid less than working at the barbershop. "'We were starving or close to it'" (Conroy 314). That is when Tolitha left Amos and Henry. Tolitha went to Atlanta and got a job at a department store, which is w

1. Tolitha leaves her husband Amos and her son Henry during the

1. Savannah moves to New York to get away from Colleton the town

2. Tom wants to escape his inheritance of violence from his father Henry. Pg. 101.

2. Tolitha left Atlanta and went to Hong Kong, Africa, and India after Papa John died. Pg. 315 & 147.

Finally, Tom tries to live a normal life to overcome his childhood trauma. A person that reminded Tom of his childhood was his mother Lila. Every time Tom saw his mother, he was reminded of his childhood. Tom would drink when his mother would come to his house because he was trying to numb the pain he felt. Lila would criticize Tom for not having a job. '"It's been a good long while since you had a job," Mom persisted'(Conroy 22). Every time Tom talked to his mother they would always have arguments. Another way that Tom tries to escape, is his inheritance of violence from his father Henry. "'Though I hated my father, I expressed that hatred eloquently by imitating his life, by becoming more and more ineffectual daily, by ratifying all the cheerless prophecies my mother made for both my father and me'" (Conroy 101). Tom had a bad temper and tried to control it when he could. '"I had figured out how to live a perfectly meaningless life, but one that could imperceptibly and inevitably destroy the lives of those around me"'(Conroy 101). When Tom attempts to help Dr. Lowenstein out he doesn't tell her everything she needs to know. Tom only tells her what he remembers and not what hurts him the most. "Tom dredges up long-buried family secrets and confronts his own habits of denial and cynicism" (Schneider 1). At first he tells her about being born during a storm and then he skips to six years later. Dr. Lowenstein discovers that there is no way he could remember what the day was like when he was born and that it can only be something that he had been told. Dr. Lowenstein was right about Tom not telling her something. Tom had not told her about the rape, the moving of the town and about Luke's death. All those things were the worst things in Tom's life and he didn't want to talk about it or think about it.

3. Savannah attempts three times the ultimate escape, suicide. Pg. 20 & 49.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1505
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels