Look Homeward, Angel

Gant is a tortured man who constantly seeks escape from the harsh realities of life. Gant represents the failure of dreams, as he never achieves his dream of carving an angel’s head and, dissatisfied with his life thereafter, seeks refuge in alcohol. He cycles through periods of dormant depression and violence that manifest in uncontrollable drunkenness and rage that is usually aimed at his wife, Eliza. He is full of regret, which is exhibited in his recalling of his former deceased wife’s name, Cynthia, whose death was most likely aggravated by Gant’s indiscretions. He struggles to accept his own mortality and finds it difficult to consider anything outside of his own inevitable demise, even at the moment of his son Ben’s death.

Obsessed with the prospect of owning property, Eliza is never satisfied by any number of properties or any amount of money. After the birth of her son Eugene, she maintains a steadfast and cold focus on her own goals, and becomes a self-sufficient woman no longer under the strain of her husband’s frustrations. Despite her incredible business acumen, she is unrealistic and promotes the fantasy of a home she will build for herself and her children, despite her children’s disdain for this falsehood. A foil to the maternal figure of Margaret Leonard, Eliza provides only the most basic provisions to ensure the health and comfort of her children. She attempts to maintain peace within the Gant household but often contributes to the tension, due to her perception of ingratitude within her children and her competitive nature, which causes conflict with her daughter Helen.

Ben was born a twin, but his brother Grover died in childhood. Ben is Eugene’s closest ally, despite his own classification as a shadow constantly searching for life’s greater meaning. Like his father Gant, Ben is closely associated with the symbol of the angel, as he repeatedly engages in open dialogue with the angel throughout the novel. Ben is often ignored and left unacknowledged, and he lives a nomadic, ambiguous existence devoid of categorization or understanding. He is the voice of reason throughout the text who counsels Eugene on his path toward independence. Ben’s death leads the total fragmentation of the Gant family, and his spectral presence at the end of the novel guides Eugene onto his final journey within himself.

Always in service, Helen has a close relationship with her father; she is his favorite child and the only sobering influence in his life. Proudly selfless, Helen is full of contrasts, as she maintains an unwavering understanding of right and wrong while also seeking diversion and entertainment from multiple untraditional sources, including promiscuous women. Helen’s “virtues—her strong lust to serve, to give, to nurse, to amuse—came from the imperative need for dominance over almost all she touched” (194). Helen antagonizes Eugene because she does not comprehend his brooding ways, and she constantly attacks her mother, criticizing her lack of service to Gant. It is Helen who constructs the plan to have Eugene cede his inheritance, driven by jealousy of the opportunities Eugene received through education.

A foil for Eugene, Luke is defined by his interactions with those around him. He navigates from place to place and adapts accordingly, much to his pride. He maintains a steadfast loyalty to his own form of generosity. In opposition to Eugene’s brooding nature, “Luke was a darling […] Women liked him, laughed at him, pulled fondly the thick golden curls of his hair” (211). While Eugene thrives academically, Luke thrives socially.

Absent for much of the novel, Steve is the eldest child of Eliza and Gant. He witnessed and absorbed firsthand the rawest moments of Gant’s drunken escapades and their violent aftermath. He adopts those same antics, and “there was nothing that Steve touched that he did not taint” (195). Juxtaposed against Eugene, who rises above his circumstances through education, Steve remains trapped in a cycle of corruption.