Beyond The Bedroom Wall: A Fa

A detailed Summary of Beyond The Bedroom Wall: A Fa

Beyond the Bedroom Wall: A Family Album

The family relationships in Larry Woiwode's Beyond the Bedroom Wall: A Family Album are illustrated in such a way that the reader is able to believe that they are in fact reading about a real family. The subtitle, A Family Album is actually a stronger summation of the novel, more clearly hinting toward the contents and main story of the book. The individuals that compose the diverse parts of the Neumiller family are all uniquely different, however, they all share an unbreakable bond in being a part of the same family. The relationships that shape the story, and are of great importance to the story of the Neumiller family, are the relationships between the brothers and sisters. These somewhat abnormal, though loving, relationships appear to have the greatest effect on the development of the individual characters throughout the novel.

The first brother-sister relationship that Woiwode reveals to the reader is that of Charles and Augustina Neumiller. The reader first sees into their relationship at the funeral and burial of their father, Otto Neumiller in the opening chapter of the novel, The Burial. The deep care that they have for each other is evident in their in

teractions. When Charles first arrives to the Neumiller family farm and sees Augustina waiting for him, he notices her bedraggled form and "he was hurt by how she'd aged, and by her lack of concern about her appearance" (30). Charles seems to desire only the best for his sister; it seems through his actions that he loves her unconditionally, as a brother should. "He stepped onto the porch and took her in his arms" (30). However, as is true throughout the story, there are hints of strange behaviors, strange thought and actions that occur between brother and sister. Charles, after embracing Augustina, gives audience to some rather odd thoughts about his sister. "Her body beneath the dress was surprisingly feminine, frail yet full, her breasts large and full against him, and he realized how easily she could have married" (30). There is something that feels strange and abnormal about those thoughts coming from a brother, although Charles is not alone, as several other brothers and sisters have similarly sexually related, emotional views of their siblings.

Later in the lives of the Neumiller children, when they are all together again for the funeral of Laura, Martin Neumiller's second wife, Marie questions Charles about the propriety of their behavior as children, and the two siblings have an exchange regarding their behavior. Marie asks, "Remember all that stuff we used to do as kids? Wasn't it awful?" As if she want Charles to somehow justify their actions, which he does. "'Oh, I don't know. I heard somewhere that it happens in about sixty to seventy percent of families where the boys and girls are anywhere close in age.' He'd heard this from his analyst. 'I think it's something you grow out of'" (

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Approximate Word count = 1158
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English