Digging Deeper

Digging Deeper

To understand Frank, Jill’s father, in Baggage burdens one must dig deep, deeper than Jill was prepared to endure.

Frank’s employer at the Oshawa General Motors plant didn’t find out what Frank’s real problem was. Even though Frank was a highly valued supervisor his drinking lead to him to being fired.

Only Alice understood her husband’s need to drink. Her insight enabled her to defend him in spite of his drinking that lead to violent behavior and the running away of both her daughters. What could possibly have won her loyalty?

A foundational hint of Frank’s deep-seated problem appears in Jill’s recollection of her childhood. Frank brags to the men at work about his daughter in a school play. He mistakenly thinks she is an actor. The error shows him up as not being a father who knows his children. The result is he reverts to the role he experienced from his own father. Be a good provider and an authoritarian. Jill lacks her mother’s perspective to see how Frank’s mistake became a thorn that festers and poisons his self-image.

Alice’s lifeline insight peeks out when she is in the hospital. Frank visits her and quits drinking. Josey’s pressure failed to force Frank to change. Alice’s strategy worked. Why? When Kathy, Jill’s sister, visits her mother in the hospital she learns why Alice supported Frank so many times. The explanation opens the door for her to meet with Frank several years after Alice’s death. Kathy eventually learns first hand that her mother was right. Frank claimed no one cared about him. Even God deserted him.

For a while Frank had it all: he was married, had two children and a very good job. Then his childhood flaw grew like a thistle and through the liquor bottle it sucked his blessings. He died with nothing.

It is important for someone to believe in you.

Who has fulfilled that role in your life?

How have they shown it?

In what way was it important to you?

Three characters in Baggage burdens. fall victim to a personal tragedy. A character’s flaw serves as a foundation for a downfall. In the case of Joseph, Jill’s husband, good intentions are not enough to save him from his sorry fate. How can an honest, loving, hard working man be subjected to such a fall? That is explored in the next blog.