Loyalty In Ann Patchett's The Patron Saint Of Liars

The characters in Ann Patchett’s The Patron Saint of Liars illustrate the theme of the importance of loyalty in relationships. In the novel, Rose, who is pregnant, moves across the country to live in a home for pregnant girls, where she later marries the handyman. Her husband, Son, tells her, “You came here because you wanted to give her up and then you didn’t, you married me, you stayed here, and now it all doesn’t seem to matter very much, and sometimes I wonder why you did it, is all” (175). Son notices Rose’s indifference towards everything in their lives. She does not care about Son because she feels no sense of loyalty towards him. She is far from the image of the devoted wife and the audience realizes that she feels no attachment to her family. Rose’s allegiance to

. . she was always waiting right around the bend with a new way to prove to me how little the whole thing mattered to her” (278). Sissy craves nothing more than her mother’s love and attention, but she realizes that Rose can never give her them. In her childhood, Sissy did not care if the attention she got from her mother was good or bad, as long as Rose acknowledged that she was there. Sissy is very loyal to her mother, loving her, craving her attention. However, after Rose leaves, Sissy learns to break her loyalties with her mother, move on, and build her own life. In The Patron Saint of Liars, relationships are built on the characters’ loyalty to each other. Rose’s total lack of loyalty is what spurs the novel across the country, beginning with Rose leaving her husband. The lack of attachment to Son or Sissy results in painful and tumultuous relationships with both of them. Whereas Son’s loyalty is so strong that it makes Rose’s mistreatment of her family hurt more, Rose’s is not even strong enough to obligate her to stay. Sissy, in this case, is perhaps the most wise, adapting her