Introduction
One of the most common themes in short stories is the theme of coming of age. While this is the chief concern of several writers, John Irving expands outside of this theme just far enough to explore other elements of this critical process of maturation. Children grow not only by mimicking their parents, but also by disagreeing with them and beginning to form their own ideas of what makes a right and good person. They also must decide if they wish to become a right and good person according to the definitions they have formed and where these rules can be acceptably bent. This conflict between parent and child is one of the major themes of Irving’s book Cider House Rules. As Homer Wells and Dr. Wilbur Larch disagree on subjects of relationships, abortion and the best way to enter the world, these conflicts help to shape and define the character that will eventually return to the Cider House to take up his appointed position as Larch’s successor.
Analysis
One of the first things Homer and Dr. Larch disagree on is the relationship between Homer and Melony. Melony’s relationship with Homer Wells is among the first real relationship she’s ever experienced with another person and remains based primarily on sex, outward appearance and a strict adherence to a childhood promise. Although there are no other appropriate girls for Homer to become involved with in the limited society of the orphanage, Dr. Larch is aware of the dangerous nature of this relationship.
“Mainly, Larch knew, he had to get his apprentice away from Melony. The two of them together: how they depressed Larch! They struck the doctor as a tired and loveless married couple. What sexual tension Melony had managed to conduct between them in the earlier years of their angry courtship seemed absent now. If they still practiced a sexual exchange, they practiced infrequently and without enthusiasm … It appeared to Doctor Larch that some wordless, joyless pact bound Homer and Melony together.” One of the driving forces behind Dr. Larch’s goal to send Homer away for more medical training was to introduce some separation into this destructive and joyless arrangement.
Part of Dr. Larch’s mission in life is to provide some help to the poor young women of Boston who find themselves in trouble. As he explains to Homer, he intends to provide these girls with a choice: “I help them have what they want. An orphan or an abortion.” While Homer is happy to midwife to the live births and to help out with the various medical and other needs of the orphanage, he remains uncomfortable with the idea of abortion. As an orphan himself, he realizes intuitively that the only thing his mother ever gave him in life was life. The idea of removing life in this way is highly repellent to him. Dr. Larch’s continued encouragement to Homer to get his real medical degree and then return to the Cider House to continue Larch’s mission to provide girls with safe abortions despite the letter of the law eventually pushes Homer to another point of conflict with his father-figure. “You can call it a fetus, or an embryo, or the products of conception, thought Homer Wells, but whatever you call it, it’s alive.” This opinion isn’t truly brought into question until he comes face to face with the realities of the world in the form of the Rose family.
Finally, Dr. Larch feels the best way to introduce Homer into ‘real’ society is to send him to medical school and continues to search for different means of sending him. “What Larch was looking for was someone to sponsor Homer Wells. Larch wanted someone to send the boy to college, not only in order for Homer to qualify for admission to medical school but also in order to expose Homer to the world outside of St. Cloud’s.” Although Dr. Larch is fully aware of the need of having Homer know something of the world outside the orphanage, the way that Homer chooses to do this is far from the well-ordered plan Larch had in mind in this passage. Instead of following Larch’s ideas, Homer chooses to leave the orphanage almost on a whim when Wally and Candy ask him to accompany them, a decision that breaks Larch’s heart at the time, but also one that Dr. Larch recognizes as an opportunity for Homer to get the experience he’s been lacking. “If this young couple likes you, Homer, and if you like them … I think you’ll be meeting their parents, too, and if their parents like you … I think we both know it would do you good to get away for more than two days, Homer.” While it isn’t what Larch was hoping for his young charge and Larch’s response wasn’t the clinging reassurance Homer was evidently hoping for, this conflict serves the purpose of launching Homer into the world and giving him the perspective he needs to finally understand Larch’s position regarding abortion and other issues.
Conclusion
Through this investigation it can be seen that it is through conflict with Dr. Larch that Homer manages to grow into the replacement doctor the orphanage so sorely needs in the face of Dr. Larch’s increasing dependency on ether. Although this conflict is not always brought out into the open and Dr. Larch seems to recognize it for what it is, it still serves as the driving force behind many of Homer’s actions and reactions to life. By placing himself in opposition to his father-figure, Homer is able to begin exploring his own attitudes and convictions, finally beginning to understand, through his interactions with others, what Larch has known all along.