Continental Drift and Homer

A detailed Summary of Continental Drift and Homer

On the surface, Continental Drift and The Oddyssey are very different. The two protagonists, Bob Dubois and Odysseus, are as unalike as two men can be. Bob is an average man with an average life. He works for one man so that he can pay bills to others, trying to make what little money is left supply his family with the needs, both real and imagined, that every family has. Odysseus is a mythical figure, the ultimate man. He surpasses his peers in every manly endeavor, "Then there was no man who wanted to be set up for cunning against great Odysseus; he far surpassed them in every kind of stratagem," whether it is with his wit, bravery, skills as a warrior, strength, or charm, (Homer, 54). Odysseus represents the timeless virtues of masculinity that all men, including Bob, desire. That Bob seeks to break the free of his average life, tries to become something other than the sad normal man that his father was; that he endeavors to become a great man, is what brings these two stories together. As the men in The Odyssey look to Odysseus as the touchstone of masculinity, Bob Dubois looks to the men in his life in his attempt to become a good man. Bob wants to become a mythical male, "handsome, of course, and sexy and good-h

Eddie is the very picture of the success that Bob wishes to obtain. Eddie has it all, a beautiful wife, an impressive house, an expensive car, two boats, Eddie is his own boss, and most importantly, Eddie has a seemingly endless line of prospects that offer him a limitless future. Eddie made his own way as an entrepreneur, living his life according to a 'truth' that he learned as an 18 year old shoe salesman, "the most important fact is that the guys with most of the money are always doing at least two of the only three things that you can do in this life, which happen to be making things, selling things, and buying things {...} It came to me when I was eighteen and it's been my guiding light ever since. My philosophy of life. My religion," (Banks, 66). What Bob does not realize until it is too late, is that all of Eddy's toys are an illusion, the trappings of a life he created and is powerless to escape. Eddy's "philosophy" does not include any room for his wife or daughter, on an emotional level. They merely serve, like his speedboat and luxury car, as status symbols for a successful man. Consequently, when Eddy starts to loose his other belongings, his wife and daughter leave with the stores and the real estate. The things that Bob thinks indicate success, and therefore happiness, are material: things that can be made, sold, or bought; things that can be given or taken away, and it is not until Eddie looses everything and takes his own life that Bob begins to see for the first time how fragile Eddy's world really was.

umored; he's not rich, not yet, {...} he's kind and gentle, tender to women, children and animals, without being sentimental, however, because after all, he's a "man's man" as well; he's a stern yet jocular father to his children, and he can take care of his wife too, can assume a custodial role in her life, honoring and attending to all her needs," (Banks, 133). Odysseus represents the benchmark in Bob's quest to rise above the multitudes, his level of excellence in every aspect, what Bob hopes to attain by emulating the men he respects, while trying to avoid the example of those that he does not. The fact that Bob fails in his quest only adds to the idea that like Odysseus, who is a mythical figure whose traits are nearly impossible to mimic, the men that Bob sees are mythical, they exist only in Bob's perception of them.

Banks, Russell. Continental Drift. New York: Harper Perennial, 1994.

Just as Bob did not see the reality of Eddy's life, he fails to acknowledge what is important in his own life, his family. Although he tells himself that he is trying to succeed for his family, each step away from their life in New Hampshire takes Bobs family further away from the security and happiness that they knew. Ruthie Dubois, Bob's daughter, serves as a good example of the mental anguish that Bobs family is put through. A seemingly normal child while in New Hampshire, part of Bob's, "happy, healthy family," (Banks, 13) she develops what are described as learning disabilities, after the family moved to Oleander Park, that may be due to emotional problems. These problems coincide with fights between Bob and Elaine, which in their own turn coincide with Bob's interest in Marguerite Dill.

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Approximate Word count = 3096
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English