Ironweed Case

In the novel "Ironweed" by William Kennedy, the main protagonist Francis Phelan went through a lot of tragedies in his life. One of the biggest tragedies I believe is Francis killing his own son. Another one I believe is a big thing is Francis's family and how he relates with them. I believe both of these events makes Francis who he is today.

Francis Phelan sees his father die while at a young age which I believe makes it harder on Francis when he accidentally drops and kills his infant son Gerald. Gerald only was able to live 13 days. Francis went to the bar with his buddies and when he came home after having four beers. He picked his infant son up and the baby falls out of his diaper and lands on his head on the linoleum. The death was quick a quick twist of the neck and it was over. On the gravestone it says "April 13,1916, died April 26, 1916. Born on the 13th, lived 13 days. An unlucky child who was much loved." After this Francis runs away from his family and leads the life of a bum seemingly without morals. He refused to attend his sons funeral or even has been near the gravesite. Francis then becomes an alcoholic and spends what ever money he makes on booze, but never asks other people for money. "Francis’s hands, as he looked at them now, seemed to be messengers from some outlaw corner of his psyche, artificers of some involuntary doom element in his life. He seemed now to have always been the family killer; for no one else he knew of in the family had ever lived as violently as he. And yet he had never sought that kind of life." Francis sees himself as a monster. He also killed another man. During a strike he hurls it through the window of a trolley to impact its strikebreaking driver’s head with uncanny accuracy.

Another tragedy is with him and his family. Francis ran away because he killed his infant son, but has not returned since. When he finally comes home his family is angry