Did Garp sleep with the babysitter? It seemed to be implied but I wasn't quite sure.
share(WARNING: CONTAINS BOOK SPOILERS!)
In the book, Garp had already had a serious affair with the lisping wife of Helen's colleague and several minor ones with babysitters, all of which injured his wife's feelings. The best she could do at that point, it seemed, was to have a talking "affair" of sorts with the husband of the woman with whom Garp had the serious affair.
Eventually, professionally successful, attractive and nearing age 30, she had reached a relationship impasse with Garp, who was locked in a writer's block funk (the source of her original attraction to him) and too much into his role as house-husband--- though paradoxically she also insisted she didn't want to hurt him! So she agreed to have the carefully-concealed (or so she hoped) affair with Michael Milton. (Who was a much different type of person in the book--- older, and a parody of a whiny self-important wanna-be "serious" writer when Helen KNEW her husband was the better of the two.) Which of course was extra ironic because Garp had pretty much had his fill of affairs and was finally settling down--- and Helen got "punished" FAR more severely for HER transgression!!!
However, creatively-speaking, the ensuing tragedy seemed to be justified by eventually provoking Garp to write the third novel that had been eluding him, and which, due to its sensational nature, was, like his mother's autobiography, the most wildly successful of his tragically truncated career. And which events also led to his REAL, if final, reconciliation with Helen.
I hope this sounds right as I haven't read the book in about 10 years (but read it about 10 times before that. I used to love that book.)
"Shake me up, Judy!"
What he did to the babysitter can not be spelled out here----BUT he did not SLEEP with her.
I'd rather go hunting with Dick Cheney, than driving with Ted Kennedy
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"Shake me up, Judy!"
Somebody is very literate! Impressive!
i also read the book. i've never seen the movie. but you've described what happens in the book well.
and yes, she is punished far more than he is for his more numerous sins. i also didn't dig that the kid whose cock she was sucking suffered so brutally for the sin of taking himself so seriously. ;) this nails his character completely: "(Who was a much different type of person in the book--- older, and a parody of a whiny self-important wanna-be "serious" writer when Helen KNEW her husband was the better of the two.)"
his punishment, in the book, for carrying on an affair with garp's wife read like the author couldn't conceive of *not* having his (the author's) cake and eating it, too. garp's wife must be pure. garp himself can be human. any punk kid who deludes himself as being anything close to garp must be struck down as publically and brutally as possible. so i started to like garp less in the book, because of what happened to the wife and the kid.
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