Unconventional Family Structure Theme Analysis

Nine Days depicts four generations of the Westaway family in Melbourne, Australia between 1937 and 2006, told non-chronologically through nine different days and narrated by nine different family members. Family plays a critical role in each narrative, but although society in the mid-20th century and early-21st century expected that a family would follow the traditional structure of one mother, one father, and several children, the successive generations of the Westaway family rarely fit such a mold. Through the nine different narrations describing a variety of familial structures, the novel demonstrates that despite traditional expectations, families come in different forms, and though sometimes challenging, they can nonetheless be beautiful and loving in their own right.

The family Westaway family’s various family structures demonstrate that, though society expects the structure of a traditional, nuclear family to consist of a mother, father, and children, families often don’t meet that expectation, either through fateful loss or personal choice. In 1937, Kip, Connie, and Francis Westaway’s father dies in a drunken accident, leaving the children and their mother Jean to survive on their own, struggling and adjusting themselves to get by. Similarly, Annabel Crouch, who eventually marries Kip, loses her mother to some unknown ailment before the story begins, leaving her to live alone with only her alcoholic father. Annabel’s family, like Kip, Francis, and Connie’s, demonstrates that non-traditional family structures may arise from tragic loss. In the 21st century, Charlotte’s family lacks a traditional father figure as well, though this is because of her own choice to have her children—rather than abort them—even though she isn’t married and knew the babies’ fathers weren’t viable parental figures, demonstrating that alternative family structures can develop out of personal choices as well. Kip, Annabel, and Alec, Charlotte’s son, all receive criticism and mockery from their peers over their non-traditional families, which demonstrates that although their alternative family structures arise from understandable or unavoidable situations, society is still prejudiced against them.

In lieu of the traditionally-accepted nuclear family, Kip, Annabel, and Charlotte’s families all adjust themselves to a new structure that allows them to operate effectively, suggesting that even non-traditional families can find ways to function and survive. Kip’s family grieves the loss of their father, and his own mother despises him as the second-born of twin boys—he is her least favorite child. Kip and his sister Connie both leave school in order to work and replace the income their father once provided, demonstrating how their family adjusts to the loss of their paternal provider. Since Kip’s mother, especially in her grief, ceases to provide Kip with any motherly affection, Connie (who is several years older than him) steps up as his motherly figure instead. After Kip is attacked by a gang and comes home bloody and bruised, Connie cleans him up and holds him, and Kip reflects, “she’s warm and she’s Connie and I’d like to sit there forever being held like when I was little,” suggesting that Connie is the new anchor of safety and affection in Kip’s life. Likewise, before Annabel marries Kip, her father’s grief at the loss of her mother drives him to incapacitating alcoholism. With no mother, and a father who cannot even take care of himself, Annabel steps into the parental role, earning the family income, cooking, and caring for her father. Although becoming the stand-in parent of their family costs Annabel many opportunities to date, socialize, and live a normal young person’s life, her ability to keep her and her father afloat again demonstrates how a non-traditional family structure may still function when its members adapt and step into different roles. Although, like Annabel’s family, Charlotte’s family lacks the traditional father role, Charlotte’s sister Stanzi moves in to be the effective second parent of their household. Similarly, as a grandfather, Kip goes out of his way to perform the fatherly duties for Alec and his sister Libby, demonstrating that even in lieu of a conventional father figure, other family members may step into the role themselves.

Although often challenging, the positive relationships among family members in Nine Days suggest that non-traditional families can be just as loving and functional as a traditional family. Although Kip has a strained relationship with his mother Jean and his brother Francis, he and Connie have a deep and endearing affection for each other that he holds onto, even for the 70 years after her early, tragic death. Their lasting bond is emphasized by the emotions that overwhelm him when Alec finds an old photograph of Connie, demonstrating that love can grow, thrive, and persist even in a non-traditional family. This idea is particularly evident in Alec, who initially resents the non-traditional structure of his family until he reflects on his grandfather’s loving and paternal care for him, and realizes that his mother, Charlotte, dearly loves him and won’t be in his life forever. The love and appreciation for his family that Alec feels, despite its failure to meet traditional expectations, demonstrates that non-traditional families are every bit as valuable as those that easily fit societal norms. Nine Days demonstrates that family has a far broader and more dynamic meaning than society traditionally expects, and ultimately argues that familial bonds can be loving and beautiful in any form.