The Literature Book

329

See also: The Catcher in the Rye 256–57 ■ White Teeth 324–25

CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE

a past order. His sections are

punctuated with quotes from

Schopenhauer and illuminated by

recalled scenes from Midwest

America in the mid-20th century,

when he worked as a railroad

engineer. Gary, Chip, and Denise

inhabit a much less tractable world;

their experiences distill the pressures

and vicissitudes of the increasingly

troubled late 20th century.

Genetics aside, there is a

common link between all of them:

despite neuroses and flaws, they all

have hope of improvement. Even

Alfred, unwavering in his self-belief

and certainty that family ties and

emotion have to be sacrificed to

fully contribute to civilization,

reflects, while Enid is pregnant

with their youngest child, Denise:

“A last child was a last opportunity

to learn from one’s mistakes and

make corrections, and he resolved

to seize this opportunity.”

Franzen later published a

memoir called The Discomfort

Zone, which included an intimate

exploration of the impact of his

mother’s death. This eclectic

collection reveals that the notion of

family still dominates his work. ■

Emotional

There are shifts in the character

traits of damaged individuals,

leading to personal growth.

Textual

Changes that Chip needs

to make to his screenplay.

Financial

Seeking to profit

from the anticipated

wonder-drug

Corecktall, Gary fails

to notice gradual

changes in the

investment markets.

Pharmaceutical

A pill, Corecktall, that

is a symbol of vain

hope, doing “nothing

and everything.”

Parental

Discipline is used to

stifle the spontaneous

affection that the

children naturally

demonstrate for their

father, Alfred.

Family rumors

Long-held myths, built

from incomplete

information, are

dispelled and truths

revealed.

Jonathan Franzen

Jonathan Earl Franzen’s father

was a civil engineer and

his mother, Irene, was a

“homemaker” (not unlike the

Lamberts in The Corrections).

Franzen grew up in Chicago

and majored in German at

Swarthmore College,

graduating in 1981.

He married Valerie Cornell

at the age of 23; they divorced

14 years later. He is now in a

relationship with the writer

Kathryn Chetkovich, and lives

in New York and California.

In 2001 Franzen sparked

a feud with American talk-

show host Oprah Winfrey

when he voiced unease at the

choice of The Corrections for

her book club, fearing that

men would be put off reading

it. He continues to write on a

range of topics, including the

pitiful state of Europe and the

impermanence of e-books.

Franzen won the National

Book Award for fiction in 2001

with The Corrections, which

was also a finalist for the

Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

Other key works

1992 Strong Motion

2006 The Discomfort Zone:

A Personal History (essays)

2010 Freedom

Types

of correction

The Corrections

reveals a network of

associations relating to the

key word of the title,

unfolding a plot that poses

profound questions about

the extent to which we

are able fix our selves

and our lives.

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