The geographical movement and variety of map locations in the novel give a somewhat ephemeral and temporal quality to Astrid’s existence, reiterating the themes of independence, loneliness, “burgeoning sexuality”, corrupt beauty, desired parental relationships and the perpetual search for a settled home. Fifty completely different worlds and who would see that better than somebody in foster care?”– Janet Fitch I look up and down my block in Silverlake and there is a different universe in every house. We don’t have a unitary society anymore, you know it’s very fragmented. I’ve always been aware of that, and of course she would end up in foster care - and start moving from house to house and really seeing the various components of our society. “I’ve always been concerned with what happens to children in our society when there’s nobody left to take care of them. Fitch herself recognises the defamiliarisation and ultimate fragmentation behind Astrid’s experiences and draws parallels between the separate, inherently broken worlds of each location and the disintegrated nature of contemporary society as a whole. In White Oleander, Janet Fitch has the reader accompany protagonist Astrid on a ‘coming-of-age’ journey in the harsh world of foster care in 20th century America, whereby she accumulates multiple emotional scars from her experiences in each vastly different and distressingly temporal home. Staff Intranet (Restricted permissions).Undergraduates (Restricted permissions).
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