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White Oleander by Janet Fitch Summary Study Guide

Detailed plot synopsis reviews of White Oleander


Plot Summary Part 4

That's all there is to know about Rena.


Astrid lets herself be banged by Rena's boyfriend Sergei.


The rest of the book slows down to a crawl. It features Astrid trying to figure out the meaning of existence or some such, with a tremendous amount of introspection. She also writes angry letters to Ingrid in jail and receives whimsical letters in return. This is really the last portion of the book.


A feminist lawyer tries to help Ingrid get out of jail, claiming she was falsely convicted of murder. Astrid agrees to lie to help her mother if Ingrid will tell her the truth about her father. Ingrid reveals her father is a Danish guy and tells Astrid his name and location. She also reveals that she once abandoned Astrid for a year because Astrid was driving her crazy.

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Estranged mother and daughter sort of reconcile, and the feminist lawyer gets Ingrid out of jail. Astrid doesn't seemed concerned that her mother might kill again. Astrid gets a boyfriend named Paul. They go to Denmark to meet her Dad. He lives like a slob and has been married four times. Astrid leaves as soon as possible. This is supposed to be the emotional payoff of the book. Astrid meets her Dad. He turns out to be a real zero. So what's the point?
The end.


 


Literary Criticism:


The first two thirds of this story was about a girl being bounced from one bad foster home to another and showing her suffering under different circumstances. How many books have been written on this plot? About a million, I think. And this million and first perspective added nothing new to the mix. So the first two thirds of the book was really trite.


But at least it was better than the last third. That's when the book really slowed down as Astrid pondered the meaning of existence, punctuated by angry missives to and from her mother. Astrid hated her mother, we get it. Her mother messed up Astrid, we get it. But spending over 100 pages talking about it is boring.


And the climax of the story, where Astrid meets her boring Dad, was a total disappointment. This book was a total bore.


And lastly, Astrid was totally unlikeable, whether she was sucking dick or being banged by guys at the age of 14 or being a narcissist and totally self-absorbed.

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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
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