Jeannie in The Son

[Gretchen]

Why did Jeannie deny Ulise (sp ?) ?

[William]

I thought it was pretty much the same reason that Eli murdered his great grandfather. One thing about this novel is that everyone holds on to his or her property (e.g. possessions, material wealth, etc.) until it is taken away, usually by force, sickness, and/or death. The novel seems to say that's the American way, like or not.

You'll also notice that Jeannie didn't even give up her last name despite that she'd been married twice.

[Linda]

Good question! On one hand, perhaps she did not want to acknowledge (or was in denial) of a stray branch on the family tree associated with her grandfather (Peter). Before Ulises was introduced into the story, Maria's daughter came to her door and Jeannie denied her too, although Jeannie struggled with that decision wondering if she should go follow her. On the other hand, Jeannie may have been suspicious of anyone outside of the main family tree who wanted a piece of the inheritance she would eventually leave - she seemed protective of that. On a deeper level, maybe the dark history of the McCullough's raid on the Garcia's compound impacted her decision to deny Maria's daughter and Ulises.