Sylvie

In the novel Housekeeping, I found Sylvie to be a very interesting character. I really enjoyed her attitude and philosophy towards life. No matter what is happening at the time, Sylvie always seems to be happy and carefree. A large part of this is that she doesn’t seem to care what anyone else thinks of her. Thus, she is able to focus on and do what pleases her, instead of what pleases society. Sylvie also doesn’t worry too much about what has happened in the past or what will happen in the future -- she lives in the moment. It’s difficult not to worry about what may happen to you in the future, but Sylvie manages to do it and, as a result, isn’t as stressed as most people are in their day-to-day lives.
Sylvie doesn’t lead a “normal” life, but instead lives like a transient, even when she is taking care of Ruth and Lucille. Even when she comes back to live in her mother’s house, Sylvie keeps many of her transient habits with her. She carries oyster crackers in her pockets, knows how to deal with stray dogs, and keeps all her clothes and belongings in a box instead of unpacking them. Also, Sylvie doesn’t mind being alone. Whereas most people find comfort in being around other people, Sylvie tends to keep to herself. She’s often lost in her own thoughts and doesn’t pay attention when other people (like Ruth and Lucille) are trying to make conversation with her. In the beginning of the book Sylvie seems content being on her own, but as the book progresses she begins to care more about Ruth and does what she can to make sure Ruth isn’t taken away from her.
Also, Sylvie really likes to be near nature. For instance, she doesn’t clean the leaves that gather in the house, but instead just leaves them in the corner. She prefers to keep the lights off when it is dark outside and use natural light during the daytime. All the doors and windows are always open in their house. The purpose of a house is usually to keep dirt, animals, and wind out, but Sylvie tries to incorporate all these elements in the house as much as possible.
Although it is easy to see why Lucille wants to be normal in the eyes of society, I can definitely understand what Ruth finds appealing about Sylvie’s lifestyle. It seems like she is always happy and doesn’t worry as much as a person leading a “normal” lifestyle would.

Comments

  1. LindsayApril 9, 2017 at 7:54 PM

    I definitely agree with your comments about Sylvie's quirkiness. When she disappears every once in a while, it's not like she means harm or anything. However, one thing that we may overlook is that Sylvie's not a very good parent. I would never want her to take care of my kids. Although charming to the reader, I could see how Sylvie could be considered a dangerous guardian. This, along with her "weirdness", probably caused Lucille to leave, as you mentioned.

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  2. UnknownApril 15, 2017 at 7:54 AM

    I think there are both good and bad aspects to Sylvie's lifestyle. On the one hand, like you mentioned she always seems to be happy and has all these wonderful stories about the things that she has done and the people that she has talked to. She is never afraid of anything, and is always trying new things just to experience them. On the other hand, I don't know how I would feel living in her house. As you said, she doesn't seem like the safest guardian. I wouldn't mind living in a house that is open to the air and filled with animals for a couple of days, but after a while it would get on my nerves. I think I can understand Lucille's decision to leave, even if I also understand the appeal of Sylvie's life to Ruth.

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  3. Dale RobbennoltApril 15, 2017 at 2:34 PM

    I think that there are some aspects of Sylvie's personality and attitude that are extremely appealing. When there is the flood she isn't bothered by it but simply goes about her business, knowing that from the perspective of geologic time it isn't a big deal. On the other hand, it would be a little frightening to be in her care. She is at times completely oblivious to the world and people around her and her style of housekeeping does not make a comfortable home. If Sylvie was taking care of people who were like minded, like Ruth, there would be no problem. But taking care of others, like Lucille, presents a set of challenges that Sylvie doesn't seem equipped to handle.

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  4. HadleyApril 22, 2017 at 5:52 PM

    I agree with you about Syvlie's personality being different. I think that her character is key to Ruth's atypical coming of age as she followed Sylvie's transient lifestyle.

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  5. MitchellApril 23, 2017 at 1:26 PM

    In her various ruminations on how transient people are viewed by "housekeepers" near the end of the novel, Ruth explores the paradox of the happy transient: there's something reassuring about the assumption, among people who live a "settled" life, that the transient envies us and wants what we have. Ruth presents some challenges to these assumptions, and Sylvie epitomizes them: we see her try to approximate a "housekeeping" lifestyle simply because it's what one is "supposed to" do. But it's clear that, given her druthers, she'd walk away from the house and never come back. Why do we view such a "thanks, but no thanks" rejection of our cherished way of life as a critique? Why do we find it so hard to imagine that someone like Sylvie could actually be more content, day by day, than we are in our constant efforts to acquire and pile up stuff in our boxes?

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