Homecoming: The Tillerman's Home

1024 Words5 Pages

In the Novel “Homecoming” a family of children, the Tillermans, are having a rough time finding a place they can call home. There is many definitions for the word home, but to the Tillermans a home is place where they can not be separated. The children have been through and have thought about four homes, Cousin Eunice, foster care, Will and Claire, and their grandmother’s home. They chose to stay with their grandmother, but the children could have went to any of the other three homes. Each home offers something in both a positive and negative way, and the Tillermans prefer one home of the others.
The children first come to Cousin Eunice’s home. Cousin Eunice’s home is in the middle, because it has an even amount of bad and good qualities. …show more content…

The have only one positive thought about foster homes and the rest are negatives. Sammy, the youngest of the three, did not know what foster homes are, but he did not think good thoughts about foster homes. When he is at school he gets in a fight with another kid, as the kid says Sammy “[is] going to a foster home.”(206) So Sammy pretty much gets in a bloody fight over nothing, since he does not know what foster homes are actually like. Sammy, must not think highly of foster care, as to have a fight over something he knows nothing about. Now foster homes may seem like a bad place for the Tillermans, but in reality they do have a positive side. Dicey knows about the positive sides, but does not want them to be split apart from each other. Dicey decides that the foster home is their final choice for a home, as it may be their last chance for survival. Dicey realizes that foster homes may be their only survival, after not knowing what to do if her aunt 's place does not work out and says“I guess i’ll have to go to the police then, won’t I? Or somebody, For help.”(141) Dicey knows that they have been fighting for survival their entire life and are reaching their limits. If the Tillerman have nowhere else to go foster homes seem like the best choice. The Tillermans can be fed, have a roof over their head, and not always be on the run. The only problem is the Tillermans can be split up from each other, which by the Tillermans definition of home means they are not actually at home. As home is place where the Tillermans can stay and live together happily. So Foster homes are the Tillermans best choice for survival, but seems like a last ditch effort for the Tillermans. The Tillermans main goal is to stay together forever, and living in foster homes makes the goal impossible. If the Tillermans can not stay together they feel defeated and can never feel at home. So to the Tillermans, what is the point of living if they can never feel