Home by: Toni Morrison

1158 words 5 pages
“Settle Down It’ll All Be Clear” (Phillip Phillips)
Over time, Frank’s journey to rescue his debilitated sister, the siblings’ dependence on each other becomes more evident. Frank and Cee Money, the protagonists of Toni Morrison’s Home, exemplify this powerful need, a need that at times flirts with greed. The reason Frank feels so responsible for Cee is due to the fact while growing up they had neglectful parents as well as an abusive grandmother, his failed relationship with Lily, and lastly him facing his inner turmoil due to his actions in Korea. Toni Morrison states numerous times in the text, how Frank would do anything for Cee. Frank recalls, “Only my sister in trouble could force me to even think about going in that direction”
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“She was the first person I ever took responsibility for. Down deep inside her lived my secret picture of myself—a strong good me…In my little boy heart, I felt heroic…” (104). Without Cee, Frank is nobody. Without Cee, Frank has no purpose.
As Frank and Cee rummaged through their uneasy childhood, they consistently found each other as a safe, comfort zone. The burial that occurs in his first memory of the novel, Frank recalls, “I hugged her shoulders tight and tried to pull her trembling into my own bones because, as a brother four years older, I thought I could handle it” (4). Immediately, as readers, we are aware of Frank’s self-imposed responsibility for Cee. The instinct was natural. Nature tends to prevail over nurture, as is certainly the case with Frank Money. Persistently his sister’s shield, to put it in a nutshell, for example, by his actions against the man who flashed her, Frank exaggerates Cee’s dependence on him. “… [Cee] was prevented from any real flirtation because of her big brother, Frank. The boys around knew she was off limits because of her overbearing, over protective brother. That’s why when Frank…enlisted and left town, she fell for…the first thing she saw wearing belted trousers instead of overalls” (47). Regardless of Frank’s good intentions, he really put Cee at a disadvantage and at risk. Their childhood was a clear indicator that Cee’s role as the helpless

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