House Mother Normal
Encyclopedia
House Mother Normal is a novel by the experimental writer B.S. Johnson. As is typical of Johnson's work the novel is written in an unorthodox style.
. It follows part of a typical day for a group of elderly people, both male and female. Their thoughts, memories and opinions of each other and the House Mother (head matron) are explored as they go about their activities, from playing pass-the-parcel to dancing.
and interior monologue to express their personalities during the course of their section.
At the beginning of each character's section is an explanatory table, providing us with information on the character, including age, condition and mental faculty. As the reader progresses through the sections each character is increasingly older and/or more senile than the characters in the preceding sections. Finally we get the House Mother's section, and we learn her opinions of those in her care.
Johnson frequently uses humour in this novel, though it is at times written with a serious tone.
Plot summary
The novel is set in a nursing homeNursing home
A nursing home, convalescent home, skilled nursing unit , care home, rest home, or old people's home provides a type of care of residents: it is a place of residence for people who require constant nursing care and have significant deficiencies with activities of daily living...
. It follows part of a typical day for a group of elderly people, both male and female. Their thoughts, memories and opinions of each other and the House Mother (head matron) are explored as they go about their activities, from playing pass-the-parcel to dancing.
Style
Each character in the book has their own section. Each of these sections starts at the same point in the day, and likewise each section ends at the same point at the end of the day. We therefore get an insight into each character's unique interpretation of the same string of events. This method of writing allows for the characters' actions and conversations to mingle and intertwine. Johnson provides each character with a mixture of dialogueDialogue
Dialogue is a literary and theatrical form consisting of a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people....
and interior monologue to express their personalities during the course of their section.
At the beginning of each character's section is an explanatory table, providing us with information on the character, including age, condition and mental faculty. As the reader progresses through the sections each character is increasingly older and/or more senile than the characters in the preceding sections. Finally we get the House Mother's section, and we learn her opinions of those in her care.
Johnson frequently uses humour in this novel, though it is at times written with a serious tone.