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Chapter 2
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Dutch House, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Memory, Inheritance, and the Past
Family Bonds
Home, Displacement, and Impermanence
Resentment and Forgiveness
Projection, Perception, and Reality
Summary
Analysis
About two years into Mr. Conroy’s relationship with Andrea, she introduces her two daughters, Norma and Bright, to Danny and Maeve—who had no idea Andrea had any children. Both a few years younger than 10-year-old Danny, their arrival cements Andrea’s presence in their lives, much to Danny and Maeve’s dismay. Andrea begins bringing her girls to the Dutch House regularly. When Danny and Maeve are first asked to babysit, Maeve gives the girls a tour of the house, showing them everything from the fuse box in the basement to hidden closets. Later, she tells Danny she has a soft spot for kids “that little.” Looking back, Danny realizes how much Maeve did for Norma and Bright without ever being acknowledged.
Andrea’s concealment of her daughters makes her integration into the Conroy family feel even less like a natural progression and more like a strategic maneuver. Norma and Bright’s sudden arrival forces Danny and Maeve into an uncomfortable role, but particularly Maeve, who instinctively steps up. Her quiet efforts to care for Andrea’s daughters parallel her burgeoning habit of tending to Danny, reinforcing how much of her identity is wrapped up in looking after others—with very little recognition.
Active
Themes
On Sunday nights, when Sandy and Jocelyn are off work, Danny, Maeve, and Mr. Conroy eat a pre-prepared dinner together in the kitchen, the smallest room in the Dutch House. It’s one of the rare moments they spend without Andrea, Norma, and Bright. The Sunday after their first babysitting ordeal, Maeve tells their father it isn’t fair to expect her and Danny to watch Andrea’s daughters. She holds her ground, and Danny is both stunned and impressed by her resolve. The conversation ends with Maeve retreating to her bedroom in anger, their father quiet and distant.
Active
Themes
