An old, faded, sepia photograph of the Sedley men is the treasured memento of the family. The men stand near the syrup oven...Amos, the father, and his three sons. Farthest from Amos is Ranse, the eldest, the favored one, the boy who is his father's meaning in life. Then comes Buck, standing in this picture as close as he can ever come to a father who has no use for him. And then Wacker, for whom his brothers are as part of himself. Wacker is looking beyond the traveling photographer taking the picture toward Carrie, the cousin who lives with them. She is not in the picture, but her eyes are meeting Wacker, whom she so closely resembles. They are filled with love, filled with longing and desire.And thus they stand...a "family" both strong and tender. Or are they? Does the treasured memento portray them as they really live their lives, or is this quiet scene only a feigned appearance? Where is the violence, the "sinfulness", the cruelty and harshness of reality? Or have the Sedleys themselves blotted out reality, living only in illusion?
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