Webster as a Parent and a Husband
Introduction
Anita Shreve’s “Rescue” is about the emotional and physical trauma between parents and children. A delicate and interesting novel explores the life of the Webster and Sheila, as they are trying to realize their past and begin again. Anita Shreve is a best-selling author who has followed a simple style in the novel “Rescue” that is straightforward and concise that has no confusing points of view or complex flashbacks (Bukowsky, 1). She has portrayed her characters in a way that are insightful that has never failed to take the readers into it, especially the character of Peter Webster. “Rescue” is a touching story of a down-to-earth small-town hero, Webster, who brings misfortune to his life through a drunk driver, Sheila, but he never fails to take responsibility. Webster is portrayed as a dedicated father and a hardworking breadwinner. He meets his fate in the name of Sheila, whom he rescued from an accident and attracted toward her physical beauty. He falls into a situation where he has to grow his daughter, Rowan, alone when his wife leaves him for years. Even though he always regrets for marrying Sheila as a wrong choice, he never regrets of his daughter’s birth. He proves himself as a father who cares about his daughter alone and loves her most. However, it does not mean he hates his wife; he loves her too, but he cannot stop her from her alcoholism that keeps her away from him and Rowan. Through his character and life, Shreve has offered an insight that proves love should be accompanied by communication, true concern, and respect.
Webster, as a Father
When his wife and Rowan’s mother, Sheila leaves him, Webster has to take care of his teenage daughter alone. Webster likes his daughter’s face and admires her eyes, mouth, and features that resembles him. As a father of a teenage girl, he worries whether he is doing well for his daughter. His love for Rowan is evident when he was waiting to get the results from schools Rowan has applied: “Webster was messing around with the dishes, washing the same glass twice, pretending he wasn’t there” (Shreve, 1). As a caring father, Webster seems dejected when he saw a cigarette packet in Rowan’s packet. He worries about her for having the habit of drinking. He has to lose his wife, Sheila, for her unconquered alcoholism. That makes him fear of losing his daughter, which he does not want to happen, as he loves her most. As a single parent, Webster fear for her future when his daughter is veering perilously. Whenever he thinks about his daughter and her behavior, he remembers his mother’s warning: You can’t regret anything that leads to your children. For the sake of his beloved daughter, he is ready to accept his wife back, as he feels Sheila is the only remedy for the ailment of Rowan; thus, he says to Sheila over the phone: “you’d better come” (Shreve, 76). When she is in the coma stage in the hospital, he sits next to her and “talks to her, no longer believing that she can hear him” (Shreve, 76). His feeling for his daughter’s pain is admirable that makes the readers feel the pain of the father. He brings his ex-wife back for the sake of Rowan, as he could realize the feeling a motherless child. He is longing for her recovery and trying to get a word from her by speaking to her continuously until he goes out of words. Webster’s character is portrayed as a loving who cares his daughter at all stages and never regrets for raising her alone. He is dutiful and caring that makes him worry about the sudden change in the behavior of Rowan. He does not want his daughter to drink alcohol because that may separate her from him, his wife does long year back. His words that come out of anguish and pain prove him as a loving father: “I’m going to hold your hand. I’m not going to leave you” (Shreve, 78). Above all, he cares, loves, and worries about the welfare of his daughter that never fails to present him as a dedicated father and never thinks about his new life.
Webster, as a Husband
After reading the novel, no one can accept that Webster is a good husband. He is a good man and of course a good husband. Sheila may not be the perfect wife, as she cannot overcome her alcoholism. As a husband, he admires, loves, and cares her when she was with him. When he rescued Sheila from a car wreck, her physical beauty haunted him and soon falls in love with her and in her troubled world. Webster was a rookie paramedic when he rescued Sheila that he feels ruined his life. When she is sick, he speaks to her, as he did with his daughter when she is in the coma. This incident is enough to prove his loving heart. Even though he feels for his mistake of selecting Sheila as his life partner, he never fails to support her financially. Undoubtedly, he is a hardworking breadwinner. There must be an intense love between them that gives them a wonderful gift, Rowan. When she leaves him, he does not stop, as he wants to let her live her life. Because she does not like his advice against her alcoholism, she moves apart from him. He worries for the health of Sheila whenever she drinks. Even though his choice of selecting a life partner goes wrong, he never likes his wife to be suffered. He is good at heart, but makes a mistake. However, he admits his mistake and takes the responsibility to bring good out of bad. He was not only admiring her physical beauty of Sheila, but also her excellent talent in painting and her sense of humor. Thus, he says, “She’s an excellent painter. I’ve seen the paintings” (Shreve, 76). Only once, he was fed up with the alcoholism of Sheila that she cannot conquer. He felt very bad about her when she drinks with the baby in the womb: “Why had Sheila done it? She’d known (Shreve, 38). Webster may prove himself as a perfect husband if he gets the opportunity. Sheila does not offer him with such opportunity, as she leaves his long back. Readers can realize that Sheila has lost a good life partner for the sake of deadly alcoholism. Whether he is a good husband or not, Webster is a good lover to Sheila, as he never fails to remember her ever after a long years and remembers her talents and sense of humor that he may like beside her physical beauty. Even though she is a misfortune for his life, Webster is a boon for her to get him as her husband.
Character analysis
Shreve has depicted the character of Webster as a perfect man who is good at heart. In his bad time, the author says, “Webster began repeating a single phrase over and over, like a tune he couldn’t get out of his head: My family needs to be rescued” (Shreve, 80). Webster is the protagonist of the novel “Rescue” by Anita Shreve, who is a down-to-earth small-town hero. He brings misfortune to his life through a drunk driver, Sheila, but he never fails to take responsibility. Webster is portrayed as a dedicated father and a hardworking breadwinner. When his wife and Rowan’s mother, Sheila leaves him, Webster has to take care of his teenage daughter alone. He loves his family that makes him work hard and take care of his daughter to bring good out of bad. He has all the qualities of a father who does not want her child to go in a way that may swallow her. He is dutiful and caring that makes him worry about the sudden change in the behavior of Rowan. He does not want his daughter to drink alcohol because that may separate her from him, his wife does long year back. For the sake of his daughter, he brings back his ex-wife whom he does not want to be back. . He is a good man, a good father, and a good husband. He admires, loves, and cares his family, as he wants to rectify his mistake of selecting Sheila as his life partner by raising his daughter in a good way. At a certain stage, he cannot take care of Rowan completely. That makes him to suspect himself whether he is a good father to a teenage girl. This very thought makes him to bring back Sheila for the rescue of his family and hope. Webster was a rookie paramedic when he rescued Sheila that he feels ruined his life. He rescued Sheila and lost his life, but now he wants Sheila to bring back his life by saving the life of their daughter, Rowan.
Conclusion
The novel “Rescue” is about loving father and a sincere family man. His dream about his baby when she was in the womb proves his care and love for his family: “A baby. Settling down. Maybe a place of their own. And he’d be with her every step of the way. As much as he could” (Shreve, 38). . He falls into a situation where he has to grow his daughter, Rowan, alone when his wife leaves him for years because of his lifetime mistake that ruined his life all along. He lives only for his daughter. Webster’s character is portrayed as a loving who cares his daughter at all stages and never regrets for raising her alone. He is dutiful and caring that makes him worry about the sudden change in the behavior of Rowan. He does not want his daughter to drink alcohol because that may separate her from him, his wife does long year back. He always feels that alcoholism is the devil that ruined his life, but he struggles to make good fortune out of his bad life. Throughout his life, Webster only slogan was “My family needs to be rescued ” (Shreve, 80). Thus, he is a loving and caring father as well as a family man. Anita Shreve has depicted her character in a way that makes the readers to live with them and feel the pain and agony of the characters especially Peter Webster. Webster has a wonderful structure from the hand of Anita Shreve, who made him to be a perfect man besides his major mistake in his life.
Works Cited
Shreve, Anita. Rescue. Boston: Back Bay Books/Little Brown, Inc., 2011. Print.
Bukowsky, Eleanor. “RESCUE by Anita Shreve.” MostlyFiction Book Reviews, 30 Nov. 2010. Web. 27 May 2014. <http://bookreview.mostlyfiction.com/2010/rescue-by-anita-shreve/>.
