The Latecomer

Lewyn has always been the one triplet that wanted a relationship with his siblings. He, like Johanna, is actually invested in the family’s relationships. This desire, along with his refusal to subscribe to the family’s Legacy of Secrets, actually makes him the rebel of the family. When he pretends not to be Sally’s brother, he is emulating Sally’s behavior, reaching for the freedom to become a new person. However, the one time he keeps secrets, with Rochelle, it ends disastrously, and this reaffirms his strict adherence to honesty from this point forward.

Although falling in love with Rochelle does fulfill his need for belonging, after the clambake, when he is alone again, he begins his search anew. Lewyn’s desire for Finding a Sense of Belonging manifests in his exploration of Mormonism. He longs for the passion and unity that he sees in the audience at the pageant but discovers that he cannot find it in the Mormon religion.

However, in Utah, Lewyn finds a passion for Art that will lead him home. His distaste for dishonesty turns him away from Mormonism when he discovers that their fundamental artists were commercial artists who were in it for the money. Moving back into the family home, he develops a relationship with Phoebe, raising her in the face of Johanna’s withdrawal from life. He finds belonging in the Brooklyn Heights house, and purpose with Salo’s art collection. In these ways, Lewyn is able to reconnect with family, even forming a relationship with Salo through his love for the same art.

During her freshman year at Cornell, Sally divests herself of everything tying her to her identity as an Oppenheimer and a triplet. Sally floats along in college, not knowing what she wants until she discovers the Shaker furniture exhibit and experiences the same wonder that Salo felt upon discovering the Twombly. At the same exhibit, Sally also finds a mentor in Harriet Greene.

Although Sally claims to want nothing to do with her family, sometimes her actions say the opposite. Once she learns of Salo’s affair with Stella, she sets her alarm to see him arrive home in the morning, and follows him to an Art exhibit, both things that could be seen as efforts to be closer to her distant father. She also keeps this knowledge to herself, in order to have something over her brothers, subscribing to the family’s Legacy of Secrets. In addition, while she refuses to acknowledge Lewyn, she does keep track of him from afar, noting that he appears to be doing well, and is making friends. Even when she is destroying Lewyn’s relationship with Rochelle, she says she is “nearly devastated,” an evasion that indicates that she is, in fact, feeling the situation deeply.

Sally struggles with Finding a Sense of Belonging as well, and this struggle is complicated by her struggle to accept her sexuality. Throughout the novel, she is faced with moments when she cannot deny her true self, and yet pulls back from the knowledge. When Harrison outs her to the family, she thinks, “I wasn’t ready […] I didn’t know” (316). Her discomfort with her own identity means that, throughout the novel she is pulled between the undeniable fact of who she is, and her distress at sharing that identity, or even acknowledging it herself.

At the end of the novel, she has found her passion for furniture, and is in a relationship with Paula. The final transformative step for Sally is to reconcile with Rochelle, which she does by applying her passion for cleaning out houses to helping Rochelle through a difficult time. With the act of cleaning of the house, she is literally able to wipe the slate clean with Rochelle.

Harrison is the most reserved and reticent of the Oppenheimer triplets. He struggles with feelings of not belonging when they are younger, especially at school. Walden is progressive which, in this case, means that it does not offer grades. Harrison, who is validated by recognition of his intelligence, is frustrated by this fact. His sense of superiority actually hides a deep insecurity about his abilities, which is reinforced when he is given a remedial reading list at Roarke.

This is one reason that Harrison responds so positively to Eli Absalom Stone, who offers validation of his intelligence, and reinforces the ideological views that he began forming while still at Walden. Eli is self-taught, which Harrison admires, as he attempted a course of self-study while at Walden but was ultimately unsuccessful. When he attends Roarke, and further, the Hayek Institute, Harrison is Finding a Sense of Belonging that he never felt before. Harrison becomes ever more conservative, and by 2017, Phoebe is waiting for him in a limo while he appears on Fox News.

Harrison’s lowest point in the novel comes when he outs Sally to their family and then gleefully watches her fall apart. At this point, he seems irredeemable, but Phoebe suspends her disdain for his beliefs in order to draw him back into the family. This coincides with Ephraim’s revelation that Eli has been passing for Black all these years. One of Harrison’s primary characteristics is his deep entrenchment in his own beliefs, bolstered by his sense of superiority.

With the revelation about Eli, Harrison begins to transform, although, characteristically, it happens in small increments. At the end of his lunch with Phoebe, Lewyn, and Ephraim, he accepts Lewyn’s offer of help, and even makes a joke. Later, Phoebe reports that Harrison and Ephraim have a close relationship, in which they breakfast weekly and debate. Although Harrison is still entrenched in his beliefs, he enjoys the intellectual stimulation and challenge of Ephraim’s point of view. This fact alone shows that Harrison has transformed enough to, if not change his views, at least respect someone with a different perspective.

Johanna is the matriarch of the Oppenheimer family, and although her character does not appear for large portions of the novel, her transformation may be the most dramatic of all the characters. Johanna continually defines her life in terms of other people. First, she feels that her purpose is to heal Salo, and after the triplets are born, her purpose becomes to create a close relationship between the children. This sense of purpose blinds her to the triplets’ disdain for each other, and the distance in her family. After Phoebe’s birth, when Johanna wants the triplets to take guardianship, even after all these years, she is still living in her idea of what her family should be, rather than the reality of it.

Johanna’s transformation happens when she stops pretending that everything is fine, and the first hint comes when she swears at Sally over her reluctance to sign the guardianship papers. In the same conversation, she indicates to Sally that she has considered leaving Salo. Her confrontational manner and openness stand in stark contrast to her earlier behavior, in which she was invested in pretending everything was fine, and that her family was close and intimate.

Johanna comes to some conclusions about her own life and needs and takes measures to move ahead. The most significant of these is leaving the house in Brooklyn Heights, which symbolizes the family she tried so hard to make. When she gives the house to Lewyn and Rochelle, and decides to stay at the Martha’s Vineyard cottage, Johanna shows that she is leaving her fantasy family behind. She is finally ready to accept her life as it is, rather than as she wishes it to be, releasing herself, and her children, from the burden of her expectations.