Harrison’s Thicker Than Water: Chosen and Unforced Womanhood A woman’s sexual discovery, or her menstruation, or her domesticity, or the development of her body, or a realization of an age-old philosophy, is perhaps, the catalyst to becoming a conventional woman. Regardless, civilization may hint to ‘some’ rite of passage, but is it clear as to ‘what’ it is that marks this new title of womanhood? The answer may seem blurred in the complexity of Kathryn Harrison’s character Isabel, in her novel Thicker Than Water. Isabel’s transformation—sometimes overlooked metamorphosis—is thwarted by her lonely search in discovering herself and her home, while yearning for her mother’s love. Isabel’s character becomes preoccupied with the idea that she is not, nor will be, a whole or “real woman,” due to her lack of truly feminine qualities (those qualities she believes her mother possesses). In turn, all the emotions involved in Isabel’s growth—from the time she was an infant until her early adult life—have manifested in the physical. That is to say, Isabel’s need for maternal love is represented by the importance of “healthy” tactile affection and attention. And through her physical relationships with her mother and father, her own actions, the obsession with objects, and the representation of life in photographs, the reader may begin to see that Isabel was literally and physically forced into maturity. In theory, this forcing of womanhood, and denial of childhood and innocence, would propel Isabel into adulthood, where she is no longer the dependent and bothersome child her mother never wants. However, Isabel learns she must choose her independence and her womanhood. As an infant, Isabel was not invited to touch her mother too often, and she learned quickly that this need for affection was received poorly and with a s...
