"If you try to give an institution of the state, or of any government, anything like love one is meant to invest in a family-and if the institution is an orphanage and you succeed in giving it love- then you will create a monster: an orphanage that is not a way-station to a better life, but an orphanage that is the first and last stop, and the only station the orphan will accept" (25).
Dr. Larch writes this in his journal after Homer comes back to live at the orphanage after yet another failed attempt at living with a foster family. Dr. Larch realizes that their is a problem with the system if Homer would rather be at the orphanage than go and live with a family. Dr. Larch seems to be getting nervous that he is creating a place that the orphans would rather live than trying to find a forever home with a family. Dr. Larch does not want children to grow up in an orphanage; he would rather see them find a home that contains the love that an orphanage is supposed to lack.
Dr. Larch realizes that it is love that Homer feels in the orphanage. Homer feels at home when he is at the orphanage. He feels that he is welcome and that he has a place there. While at the last home, he felt useless, and he did not feel like he could help ever. At the orphanage, Homer knew that there are certain things that he can do whenever he wants and there are certain things that he does that make him feel like he has a place there. Homer feels as though he is more welcomed at the orphanage than he ever was in any of the homes he was in. Part of that stems from the abuse that some of the homes contained, but part of it ended up being the fact that the orphanage was a majority of what Homer knew. He did not really know a lot of what was outside of the orphanage, having spent most of his life there.
When Dr. Larch writes this, he also writes that when an orphanage contains love and warmth, it creates a Homer Wells, a forever orphan. That is the last thing that orphanages needs, a forever orphan who never wants to leave. When Dr. Larch writes these things, he is trying to analyze what happened. He is trying to understand what went wrong that made Homer want to live with him and the nurses, instead of trying to live in a home with parents and other children. He is trying to see the reason behind why the orphanage is becoming a place that is, as he states, a one stop station for the orphans. He puts some of the blame on the fact that he has shown Homer that he loves him. Love is such a powerful emotion that causes Homer to keep coming back to a place that he considers home, even though the orphanage should not be a home for him. When a place, such as an orphanage, contains the love that a family should be giving, it causes it to become inviting and makes the children want to stay. The last thing that Dr. Larch ever wanted was a forever orphan that felt that his place was living in the orphanage.
No comments:
Post a Comment