Character Analysis: The Magnificent Ambersons

Love can be seen through the way a parent rears a child and how adults interact with children of their own. Couples can be overly involved in their children’s lives or watch from afar with little intention of having a guiding presence. The novel, The Magnificent Ambersons, describes the lives of an affluent family centered around the life of a young boy, who eventual grew to be a boastful man longing to be hopeful again. George, the young boy, grew-up believing only certain members of a society have the right to wealth and all others are subject to minimalist life-styles. In the Amberson family, George tries to fit the role of a patriarch to protect their Ambersonian name and legacy. Isabel, George’s mother, was an overly involved mother and always wondered about her son’s feelings rather than her own. She, also, never questioned her son’s intentions to be the perfect Amberson, so instead she presented him to the world in extravagant outfits and gave him the best education money could buy. Booth Tarkington persuades us to believe Isabel was an ignorant …show more content…
Booth Tarkington demonstrated empathy for Isabel by describing the relationship between George and her. (page # and dialogue) When George insulted Reverend Malloch Smith’s nephew in the Reverend’s front yard, it was the talk of the town and a letter arrived shortly after to the Ambersonian mansion. The letter outlined the disgust the town’s people had toward George, but that did not stop his mother from understanding the nobility George had towards the Amberson name. Throughout the novel, George went about his life and only became caring for others after his mother’s death. Even as Isabel told George his father did not look or feel alright, George disregarded the idea of death leaving Isabel to suffer in silence. The manipulation of death leaves the reader wondering whether George will finally turn around and comfort someone besides