The World According to Garp | Part 1 Summary
Garp's Conception, Birth, and Childhood
Irving's novel opens in Boston, 1942, with the introduction of T. S. Garp's mother, Jenny Fields. Jenny is an independent woman ahead of the times. She quits college to become a nurse when she decides that higher education for women is meant to groom them for marriage. Jenny has little tolerance for the behavior of men, as demonstrated by the incident that opens the book. A soldier in a movie theater attempts to fondle Jenny. She uses a scalpel she carries in her purse to slice his arm from shoulder to wrist. She is perturbed when the...
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