'The Writer in the Family' by E.L.

Doctorow (1984) portrays a second-

generation immigrant family through the narration of Johnathan. His father had
recently died from a terminal illness, a fact that has been kept from the family's
elderly matriarch, a ninety-year-old woman living in a nursing home. Jonathan's
wealthier aunt, Frances, made this decision without the consent of the narrator's
father's immediate family, showcasing the first signs of social roles and hierarchy
within the family.

Aunt Frances was the wealthier of my father's sisters. Her husband was a lawyer
and both her sons were at Amherst. She had called to say that Grandma was asking
why she didn't hear from Jack. I had answered the phone. "You're the writer in the
family," my aunt said. "Your father had so much faith in you. Would you mind
making up something? Send it to me and I'll read it to her. She won't know the
difference." (DOCTOROW, 1984, p.2).

This paragraph perfectly illustrates how Doctorow introduces social hierarchy

by describing space and social class within Jonathan's family. Traditionally, respect
for elders is a deeply ingrained value in most families from different cultures,
including Jewish tradition. Older family members, especially grandparents and great-
grandparents, are often revered for their wisdom, life experience, and role in
preserving family traditions and values. However, younger generations may esteem
wealth and achievements more, as depicted in "The Writer in The Family." While
Jonathan's Grandmother influences her offspring's life choices, their ability to
influence other family members varies significantly based on how well they meet her
expectations.

Thus, Aunt Frances, who is married to a lawyer, a successful and steemed

professional, had children who study at a private liberal arts college located in
Amherst, Massachusetts, known for its academic excellence and historical
significance in higher education and shows more signs of wealth such as having a
car, wields authority in the household.

She drove a black Buick Roadmaster, a very large clean car with whitewall tires. It was Aunt
Frances all right. She blew the horn when she saw me. I went over and leaned in at the
window. "Hello, Jonathan," she said. "I haven't long. Can you get in the car?" "Mom's not
 home," I said. "She's working." "I know that. I came to talk to you." "Would you like to come
upstairs?" "I can't, I have to get back to Larchmont. Can you get in for a moment, please?"
(DOCTOROW, 1984, p.9).

Larchmont is a village in Westchester County, New York, known for its affluent
residential neighborhoods, waterfront properties, and community-oriented
atmosphere. While Aunt Frances and Jonathan's Grandmother are located in
wealthier areas of New York, Johnathan's family moved around by bus and had a
small apartment in the Bronx, generally considered a middle-class neighborhood
with a significant population of working-class families, many of whom were
immigrants or children of immigrants.

The story is written in the first person and thus influenced by Johnathan's
perspective. Significantly, he is the narrator of Doctorow's short story, and the writer
of the Jewish family depicted. Their origins can be deduced by the cemetery where
Jack is buried, Beth El Cemetery, a well-established Jewish burial ground in New
Jersey, and the name his mother uses to refer to his grandmother: "Mamaleh," which
is a diminutive form of "Mame," meaning "mother" in Yiddish. He later adopts it when
personifying his father's voice; however, it is evident that the narrator does not have
such a close relationship with the grandmother, which can be observed in the first
paragraph:

"In 1955 my father died with his ancient mother still alive in a
nursing home." (DOCTOROW, 1984, p.1).

The phrase "still alive" is paradoxical, implying an underlying wish for her
demise, foreshadowing Jonathan's last letter. Far from revealing only his father's
death, by referring to his grandmother as "his ancient mother" as if she was related
to his father only - indicated by the use of third-person singular possessive pronoun-
we can infer that the relationship with his grandmother is severed in a deep-rooted
level, which can be observed throughout the story; her name was only once
mentioned by her mother, and she is always referred to as "grandmother,"
"Grandma" by Johnathan, and "Mama" and "Mamaleh" when he is adopting his
father's voice.
 "If I had known. Before I ever met him he was tied to his mama's apron strings. And Essie's
apron strings were like chains, let me tell you. We had to live where we could be near them for
the Sunday visits. Every Sunday, that was my life, a visit to Mamaleh. Whatever she knew I
wanted, a better apartment, a stick of furniture, a summer camp for the boys, she spoke
against it. You know your father, every decision had to be considered and reconsidered. And
nothing changed. Nothing ever changed." (DOCTOROW, 1984, p.5)

The characters are mostly referred to by their Genealogical Positions, which

indicate their intrafamily roles. Essie's name holds less value than her status as a
grandmother, thus the matriarch of the family. Frances, who holds a significant
amount of power, is also preceded by "Aunt," distinguishing her position as a direct
"true citizen by blood" (p.2) from the lesser citizens by marriage, Jonathan's mother,
whose name is not revealed. His father is almost as often referred to by his name as
Aunt Frances, but it is soon revealed that he was not successful and regarded as
well. In a discussion between the brothers, Harold questions Jonathan's need to
write the letters once Aunt France's family is literate.

"But they're not Jack's sons," I said. "That's exactly the point," my brother said. "The idea is
service. Dad used to bust his balls getting them things wholesale, getting them deals on things.
Frances of Westchester really needed things at cost. And Aunt Molly. And Aunt Molly's
husband, and Aunt Molly's ex-husband. Grandma, if she needed an errand done. He was
always on the hook for something. They never thought his time was important. They never
thought every favor he got was one he had to pay back. Appliances, records, watches, china,
opera tickets, any goddamn thing. Call Jack." (DOCTOROW, 1984, p.8)

This paragraph is the second time the expression "at cost" appears. In earlier
pages, the narrator noted it was a 'treasured phrase in their house' (p.3) and
significantly affected their position in the family. Just like his father, Jonathan is
accounted as the family writer and tries to balance both sides—he tries to please his
relatives and his mother's side by writing letters and, for example, trying on his latest
father's clothes according to his mother's wishes (p.3).

After the discussion with his brother Harold, the narrator starts to wonder how
giving up opportunities - he discovers his father's passion with the Navy, which he
abandoned to try to attend to the family's wishes for financial success by being a
salesman. As pointed out in Jonathan's last letter, the cost of not following his voice
was dying of the "wrong life." (p.11).
 Dear Mama, This will by my final letter to you since I have been told by the doctors that I am
dying. I have sold my store at a very fine profit and am sending Frances a check for five
thousand dollars to be deposited in your account. My present to you, Mamaleh. Let Frances
show you the passbook. As for the nature of my ailment, the doctors haven't told me what it is,
but I know that I am simply dying of the wrong life. I should never have come to the desert. It
wasn't the place for me. I have asked Ruth and the boys to have my body cremated and the
ashes scattered in the ocean. Your loving son, Jack. (DOCTOROW, 1984, p.11).

In Jonathan's letters, the irony of Jack fictionally living in Arizona finally appears once it is
revealed that he likes the ocean. In this letter, it is as if Jonathan's dad was finally able to die
and go to the place he longed for, breaking the Jewish family traditions of being buried and
revealing the narrator's personal growth as a writer.

Both social class and spatial themes are correlated to depict the family
through Jonathan's eyes. His influential aunts live in Lanchester, while his family
lives in a small apartment in the Bronx, a lower-middle-class neighborhood. He is
highly influenced by his Ant Frances, who makes him view his mother differently
while she - who was wearing elegant clothes in a nice car and beautiful hair -
criticizes his mother. All characters have their roles explicitly mentioned when
referred to, and there is much judgment towards Jack's family since they are not
direct bloodlines of the immigrant family, despite his grandmother's generation also
coming originally from the working-class Stanton Street.

Essentially, E.L. Doctorow's The Writer in the Family highlights the

juxtaposition of judgments and tensions within the family, emphasizing themes of
identity and societal expectations in the context of immigrant heritage. In other
analyses, these themes can be further explored by analyzing Jonathan's relationship
with his mother, Jack, and Harold and their feelings towards their apartment.