The Evolution of Relationships in Thalia

Sonny and Charlene:

Sonny and Charlene dated for a year. In the beginning of the novel, the two are still in a relationship, but Sonny soon breaks up with Charlene on their anniversary. Neither of them actually like the other. Sonny is in love with Jacy at the time, and Charlene is in love with Duane. Charlene and Sonny simply use each other to battle their loneliness and get some sexual satisfaction, although they never actually have sex. The just settle for the best option available.

 “Charlene kissed convulsively, as if she had just swallowed a golf ball and was trying to force it back up. Of course, Sonny had considered breaking up with Charlene, but there weren’t many girls in the town and the only unattached girl who was any prettier than Charlene was an unusually prudish sophomore” (McMurtry 12-13)

Sonny and Ruth:

Sonny and Ruth Popper were first forced together when Ruth’s husband and Sonny’s football coach, Coach Popper, asked Sonny to drive Ruth to a doctor’s appointment. At her house afterwards, they shared a brief moment, but nothing really happened until the countywide Christmas dance, when they kissed. Then, Sonny took Ruth to the hospital again, and this time they had sex afterwards. Then, it became a regular affair that the whole town was aware of. Ruth finally realized who she was through Sonny, and they grew very close. It lasted until Sonny left Ruth for Jacy. This completely tore Ruth apart, leaving both of them terribly lonesome. In the end of the novel, Sonny goes to Ruth’s house, and she takes him back.

“In the weeks after Ruth’s breakthrough the two of them became very close and comfortable. Once Sonny quit worrying about her response or lack of response, he found her much more pleasant to be with, and there were even afternoons when he visited her, not to make love but just to talk, hold hands, or watch television” (McMurtry 130).

“Why am I always apologizing to you, you little…little bastard. For three months I’ve been apologizing to you, without you even being there to hear me. I haven’t done anything wrong, why can’t I quit apologizing. You’re the one who ought to be sorry. I wouldn’t be in my bathrobe now if it hadn’t been for you—I’d have had my clothes on hours ago. You’re the one that made me quit caring whether I got dressed or not” (McMurtry 278).

Sonny and Jacy:

Sonny had liked Jacy and fantasized about her from the very start of the novel, but Jacy had always been busy with other men. She dated Duane, Sonny’s best friend, for a while, and then, she spent a night with Bobby Sheen. Next, she was with Lester for most of the summer, just using him for his group of friends and their parties. At the end of her relationship with Lester, Jacy had sex with Abilene in the pool hall. After all of this, Jacy decides to go for Duane, simply because she is bored and wants to mess up Ruth and Sonny’s relationship. Then, Jacy and Sonny date, and they run away and get married. Jacy simply wanted to marry Sonny for the controversy and excitement. Her parents catch them and had it annulled that very night, just as Jacy had planned.

“It did end her boredom, though. She decided then and there that she would stop that romance and stop it good. She would go with Sonny for the rest of the summer, and he would never give Mrs. Popper another thought. He was reasonably good looking, like her mother said, and going with him wouldn’t be too unpleasant. It would make August pass a lot quicker” (McMurtry 224).

Sonny and Lois:

On Sonny and Jacy’s wedding night, Lois and Gene, Jacy’s parents, come to break it up. Gene drives Jacy home, and Lois drives Sonny home. On the ride home, they stop in a hotel and have sex. The event is very random, and there had never been any particular feelings between the two before. Lois had been in love with Sam the Lion during her marriage with Gene and she had also frequently had sex with Abilene. She used Sonny to help fill the void that was left in Lois after Sam the Lion died because she had loved Sam deeply. It is just a one-night affair, and nothing happens between them again.

“’Your mother and I sat next to one another in the fist grade,’ she said, ‘We graduated together. I sure didn’t expect to sleep with her son. That’s small town life for you.’ She grinned and stroked his chest again as he buttoned his shirt.

‘What will we be?” he asked, when she stopped at the poolhall to let him out.

‘Very good friends for a long time,’ Lois said, ‘Even I couldn’t get away with taking on my daughter’s ex-husband on a regular basis’” (McMurtry 255).

Character Analysis

 

Sonny Crawford- A senior at Thalia High School, Sonny is the protagonist of the novel. He lives in a boarding house with his best friend Duane, as his mother is dead and his father can’t support him. Although Sonny seems to be a typical small town kid, he has a greater conscience and more developed code of ethics than his friends. Sonny is somewhat weak-minded, though throughout the novel we see him become gradually more self-assured.

“It was almost the first time in Sonny’s life that he had not been willing to go on and do whatever the crowd was doing,” (McMurtry 106).

Duane Moore- The star athlete at the high school, Duane is Sonny’s best friend. He often serves as a foil for Sonny because of his irascible demeanor. Duane is often unpredictable, and can quickly change from feelings of extreme anger to those of tremendous depression. He is dating Jacy Farrow, who consumes his life with her constant demands. Duane does not like change and has far less ambition than does Sonny.

“She’s my girl and I don’t care if we did break up. I’m gonna get her back, I’m tellin’ you right now. She’s gonna marry me one of these days, when I get a little more money,” (McMurtry 234).

Sam the Lion- As the owner of Thalia’s only café, movie theater, and pool hall, Sam is one of the most well known men in town. He is characterized as being dependable and trustworthy, as Sonny and Duane often confide in him throughout the novel. Little about his background is known, although it is revealed that he was in love with Jacy Farrow’s mother back when they were teenagers.

“Sam the Lion was the man who took care of things, particularly of boys, and Sonny did not like to think that he might die,” (McMurtry 4).

Jacy Farrow- Jacy is the prettiest, richest and most popular girl in Thalia—and she knows it. She is very self-absorbed and sees herself as destined for greatness. Although she dates Duane throughout much of the novel, Jacy often strays from him when she feels like she can gain something from another boy. Jacy is often the main source of conflict between Duane and Sonny

“ It took a rich, fast crowd to go swimming naked, and Jacy always prided herself on belonging to the fastest crowd there was, moral or immoral. Indeed, for a rich, pretty girl like herself the most immoral thing imaginable would be to belong to a slow crowd,” (McMurtry 83).

Ruth Popper- The football coach’s wife, Ruth is originally characterized as being timid and shy. However, she connects with Sonny on a very intimate level midway through the novel. Their affair changes Ruth dramatically; she becomes livelier and seems younger and fresher. Through bouts of self-doubt, Ruth gradually asserts herself as a significant figure in Sonny’s life. 

“Ruth seemed to grow fresher, more self-possessed, and more lovely, though it was only at odd, oblique moments, lying beside her or coming into her room, that he noticed that she was lovely. Instead of drooping about the house as she had once done she acquired grace and animation and moved about as active and lithe as a girl,” (McMurtry 140-141).