Why do you think Celine was so controlling? Did she have good qualities, too? Did Truman? What were his flaws?

Why do you think Celine was so controlling? Did she have good qualities, too? Did Truman? What were his flaws? How do you feel about these two characters?

Celine was a perfectionist and when her drinking started becoming a problem, she needed to control her world. She was a strong, ambitious and capable woman who made things happen for herself and her family. That was not easy in the 1940s and 1950s. Under the circumstances, I'm not sure what I would have done about my husband cheating on me and the mother of his child living with me. I can't remember if she knew that the place she was sending Rosie to was a eugenics facility. As for Truman, he was a wimp, in spite of running away from his marriage and responsibilities to join the service for a second time.

Although Celine was certainly a flawed character, I find it easier to identify with her feelings than with those of Truman. She feared losing what she had and was protecting her marriage. Truman took advantage of Rosie's innocence and then was so weak he did not have the decency to protect or help her or his child in any way.

The need to control often appears in characters who often feel like they lack control over their own destiny. Celine was a strong woman but was still controlled by the horrid behavior of her weak husband. She knew if everyone discovered their situation that she would be scorned. She was as much a vitamin as was Rosie. Today's women could easily judge Celine harshly, but her world was so unfair to women. The reader must remember she did not live in a world of women's rights and independence from her husband.

Celine was a strong, flawed woman with a very weak husband. In the 1940/1950 era it was not a world of women's rights and being able to be independent from a husband. She was caught between a weak husband and a young woman carrying his child. What would I do? I really don't know, I would like to think I would be able to make the right decisions for all concerned.

Truman was weak so Celine needed to be controlling (and admittedly an ugly character because of her need to control everything). At the end I did not like Truman. What was his motivation to seduce Rose? She was a child and under their protection. I understand he was drunk but absolutely no excuse. It was difficult for me to get past that flaw in Truman's character.

Celine was definitely an antagonistic character. She seemed pretty cold hearted to me. She was very controlling and selfish. She begrudgingly took Roseanne in, then made her be a servant, because she was the child of the winery worker.

I think Celine needed to be controlling because Truman could not manage the vineyard alone. However, she was cold hearted and treated Rosie like a slave, never giving her any sign of caring or consolation for the loss of her family.

Celine was definitely a witch (not using the word I really want to!). I think Truman had been worn down to where he followed the path of least resistance but had a good heart. Living with Celine for so long had left him a weak individual,
who in turn was a sitting duck for the convergence of his loneliness and alcohol and an attractive and caring (so unlike Celine!) woman.
Back to Celine,perhaps the part of her that was the good business woman left no room for her to develop the traits that would make her a decent human being.

She had to be, her husband was weak and fairly useless when it came to running the business - and then having to "cover", I would have turned to drink as well. Was she always like that or did it become necessary? I didn't have much use for Truman, his sister was a better "man".

I agree with everything barbettet said. Celine was a frustrating, flawed person, but Susan Meissner did a good job of explaining the circumstances that made her that way.

Celine was controlling because she was jealous and insecure. Most people have some kind of goodness to them, albeit by varying degrees. Her good qualities weren't really revealed, but she wasn't the main focus of the book. The fact that she remained cold-hearted until the end implies she didn't have many redeeming qualities. Truman was weak, selfish, and borderline pedophilic. He literally changed the course of a human life with little remorse.

I agree with all the comments above, both about Celine and Truman. With that said though, I couldn't bring myself to sympathize with Celine, even a little bit. She knew the kind of facility that Rosie was being sent to, but did nothing to prevent it (and even seemed to be glad about it). Also, what really made me hate her was when she emptied out the safe deposit box with the money for Rosie after Truman died. Knowing that her husband was in the wrong and she herself had a hand in Rosie's suffering by sending her to that horrid institution, the least Celine could've done was leave that money there for Rosie (small recompense, but at least it was something). The fact that she didn't was cruel and for me, unforgivable.

I didn't care for Celine's character at all. She definitely took control of the family and was cruel to Rosie. Having her serve as a maid and then choosing to send her away to that awful place.

Adding just a few thoughts to the many excellent points made about the qualities of both Celine and Truman. I was struck by the cold heartedness of Celine in three specific parts. The first was her comment to Helen that she sometimes thought “only the vineyard hadn’t failed” her. The second her theft of the money Truman set aside for Rosie. Third was her cold hearted response and treatment of Helen when Helen tried to get Celine’s answer to where Rosie and the baby went. I could almost feel Celine sneering at Helen when she said “You heard what I said. They sterilize people like her.” Wow.

As for Truman, I think there was a certain level of tenderness and love within him that was destroyed by living with Celine’s never ending anger, control, etc. When all is said and done, it seemed
Truman struggled with competing values (honesty vs dishonesty, courage vs cowardice and injustice, etc.). That he did not take any responsibility, on any level, for his actions with Rosie was reprehensible. His courageous service during the war only served to reinforce the cowardice he demonstrated with Celine when he chose not to confess that he was the father of Rosie’s baby.