I've been reading The Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck the last little while and I was touched by a scene in the beginning of the book. Tom, the character we've been following, finds his family after being in prison for four years. It is a tender and joyful moment as we catch a glimpse of this reunion and meet more of the characters through the character's eyes. It reminded me of other such scenes that I've read and how it is always a moment I look forward to in a book when the characters have been apart for a long period of time. This prompted me to ask why - why do we like these scenes so much?
The best answer I can come up with is that it's because we can relate to these people and the feelings they are experiencing. We have all had times when we were away from loved ones and then felt the joy of being reunited with them after hardship and sadness. Family is the core of our society and the core of our lives so these reunions are something we all know something about.
Do you remember a reunion scene you read? How did it make you feel? Why do you think it evoked those feelings in you?
By the way, I've decided to put down The Grapes of Wrath because I'm having trouble getting into it as much as I want to. It could be because I so recently finished another hard read (A Tale of Two Cities) but I think I need a light break and I'll pick it up again sometime in the future.
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