Safari

The Results of Dysfunctional Family Relationships in Jennifer Egan‟s “Safari” Although some may still engage in the nature vs. nurture debate, modern

psychology has done a great deal to determine the effects of a child‟s environment on their development and future characteristics. The most important factor in a child‟s development is the family, and parental interactions play an enormous role in determining a growing person‟s needs and tendencies. Exceptions are possible, to be sure, but distinct patterns are visible regarding the consequences of good and bad family dynamics. In “Safari,” author Jennifer Egan uses the characterization of a father and his children to display a deep understanding of human interaction, and, in doing so, paints a chilling picture of the damage that dysfunctional family relationships can inflict on multiple lives.

A great majority of the conflict in “Safari” is a result of Lou‟s selfish, misogynistic nature. He is consistently consumed by a desire for power over others, and is driven by the power struggles he engages in with those around him. Egan writes, “Lou is a man who cannot tolerate defeat – can‟t perceive it as anything but a spur to his own inevitable victory” (Egan 77). This inexorable desire for victory in conflict is the driving force behind most of his decisions in the story – his eventual marriage to Mindy, for instance. Once Lou deduces that Mindy feels attraction for Albert and is perhaps already

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involved with him, an immediate power struggle is established between him and Mindy in which he must keep her as his own. Lou marries Mindy because “that‟s what winning means” (Egan 78). Now, because of his pride, Lou is stuck in a long marriage with someone he does not truly love. It is not farfetched to presume that this was the case in his previous marriages as well; this provides more insight on the less than stellar relationships he shares with Charlie and Rolph, if they were in fact the result of...