characters to demonstrate power within the home to help keep structure for the young main characters, who not only are seen to need structure but are in need of role models to demonstrate acceptable behaviour. As children growing up in the early to mid twentieth century, the main characters Brian and Vanessa are in need for role models to demonstrate acceptable behaviour for them to follow as they grow up. Brian's father Gerald O'Connal in Who Has Seen the Wind, is the first and most obvious character to demonstrate acceptable behaviour, as he is a well respected statured man with a strong family life. Within the novel, the author describes him as a "quiet, slow-smiling, and almost shy individual," (17). The description makes the character always calm and in control during high pressure situations he faces all through the novel, whether they be with his sick child, problems within the community, or problems with his eldest son. Although little is seen of her in the novel, Brian's mother Maggie O'Connal demonstrates acceptable behaviour within their home, as she spends most of her time with her sick baby in an effort to get home well. Brian's feelings for the situation are indicated when the author states, "Brian hated his mother for spending so much time with the baby," (4). However it was only proper for the time for the mother to assure the health of all their children as a first priority. In "To Set Our House in Order," Grandmother MacLeod demonstrates acceptable behaviour just with her strong-willed regal manner. The author gives a strong description of her saying,Grandmother MacLeod kept her slight figure held straight and poised, as though she were unaware that her hair was bound and grotesquely like white-feathered wings in the snare of her coarse night-time hairnet (43). It was very appropriate in the day in age for a woman of her stature to keep her appearance very proper. Evidently, both main characters in the works...
