Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant

A detailed Summary of Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant

A wise man once said "There are no perfect people in the world, just perfect intentions." This statement exemplifies Pearl Tull. Pearl is the centerpiece of Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant; a novel which tells the story of her life through the eyes of the people she loved most, her children. Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, by Anne Tyler, is a bittersweet novel which demonstrates how one mother's perfect intentions became just the opposite and turned what should have been an ideal family into a group of torn-apart adults who only have a vague idea of what a family should be.

Late in her time, as her life was drawing to a close, Pearl Tull laid in her bed with her "favorite" child, Ezra, nearby. Pearl had become almost completely blind and was about to die, but while her eyes could not see her mind was sharp as a needle. Thoughts rolled in and out of her mind: what should have been, where Ezra should have gone to college, the husband she should have with her, the care her daughter Jenny should have taken about her looks, and most importantly the life she should have had. Pearl had intended nothing but the best for herself and her family but things did not seem to happen the way they "should" have. P

engaged to. Partly out of spite for his brother, partly out of spite for his mother Cody enticed this girl into love and marriage. Cody was even told "You've got no earthly use for that girl. She's not your type in the slightest; she belongs to your brother Ezra, and she's the only thing in this world he's ever wanted" (153). Cody was told that what he was doing was wrong. Even with disapproval he went through with the wedding. Cody's decision was in part made only to spite his brother. Though Cody and his wife professed love for each other, it usually is not considered correct to steal your bride from your own brother. Pearl had intended to be more affectionate to the gentler, more needy Ezra and let Cody be to himself a bit more as he was the stronger of the two brothers, but her intentions let an extremely bitter child turn into an angry, hard to please adult.

I wish I'd find you dead in your beads." Pearl's anger along with her specific habits shape the future for her children. While her intentions were to be the "perfect mother" she failed to give to her children the one thing that makes a mother perfect, her love.

The youngest of the three children was Jenny. Jenny was very thin, and could have been, with a little work, extremely beautiful. Pearl in an attempt to have Jenny marry someone that she should have, constantly berated Jenny when she was with someone who was not "appropriate." One time after Pearl saw Jenny kissing someone that she did not approve of, Pearl called jenny "a piece of trash, a tramp" (79). Jenny would eventually marry three people. The first was Harvey, a man who completely infatuated her with his intelligence. Harvey quickly became to Jenny a figure exactly like her mother. Jenny began to grow disgusted with everything that Harvey did. Her second husband was an artist who left Jenny for a model after Jenny had become pregnant. The third husband is the one that Jenny kept. He was a man with a large amount of children that she had stumbled onto while making an unexpected house call. While Jenny eventually became happy with her life, Pearl did not. Pearl always questioned Jenny about what she wore, the way she fixed her hair, and for the way she carried herself. Pearl had attempted to groom Jenny into being like she was; however, Jenny grew to dislike habits and characteristics associated with her mother and became almost just the opposite.

Her husband Beck, a salesman for the Tanner Corporation, had bought a bow and arrow set for the children. In his eyes this would create the opportunity for the perfec

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Approximate Word count = 1740
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels