The Homemaker · Chapter
II explained
Stephen Knapp, a young boy, finds his beloved Teddy-bear hidden in his mother's bureau drawer after she had taken it away to wash it.
What happens
Stephen Knapp, a young boy, finds his beloved Teddy-bear hidden in his mother's bureau drawer after she had taken it away to wash it. He experiences a profound sense of relief and peace holding Teddy, which represents his only comfort in a home filled with tension and his mother's harsh discipline. The chapter explores Stephen's internal struggle against his mother's control and his determination to protect what is dear to him.
Themes in this chapter
Gender Roles and Domesticity
Mother's role as the enforcer of household cleanliness and order, and her control over Stephen's environment, highlights the domestic expectations placed on women in the early 20th century.
Family and Parenting
The chapter explores the fraught relationship between Stephen and his mother, characterized by fear, control, and a lack of emotional understanding, contrasting with Stephen's deep attachment to Teddy as a source of comfort.
Characters to notice
- Stephen Knapp
Stephen recovers his Teddy-bear from his mother's drawer, experiencing deep emotional relief and peace. He reflects on his fear of his mother's punishment and his determination to protect Teddy.
- Mother
Mother is portrayed as a strict, controlling figure who scrubs floors and enforces cleanliness. She took Stephen's Teddy to wash it, causing him great distress, and her presence fills the home with tension.
- Teddy
Teddy is Stephen's cherished stuffed bear, representing comfort and safety. He is hidden by Mother after being washed, and Stephen's recovery of him brings immense relief.
Key passages
“He crept in over the immaculately clean floor, drew the curtains back of him, and sat upright, cross-legged, holding Teddy to his breast with all his might, dry-eyed, scowling, a magnificent sulphurous conflagration of Promethean flames blazing in his little heart.”
Stephen silently entered the clean room, sat with Teddy clutched to his chest, and felt a fierce, defiant anger burning inside him.
This passage illustrates Stephen's intense emotional state and his determination to protect Teddy, using vivid imagery of fire and defiance.
“What the smell of incense and the murmur of prayers are to the believer, what the first whiffs of his pipe to the dog-tired woodsman, what a green-shaded lamp over a quiet study table to the scholar, all that and more was Teddy to Stephen.”
Teddy provided Stephen with the same profound comfort and peace that religious rituals, a woodsman's pipe, or a scholar's lamp provide to others.
This simile emphasizes the deep emotional significance of Teddy as a source of solace in Stephen's turbulent life.