Dave and Toph's relationship

How does Eggers present the relationship between him and Toph in Chapters 1-5 of ‘A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius’

Eggers presents the relationship between his younger self Dave and Toph as being problematic  in the terms of Dave taking on his brother’s care at a relatively young age, but the warmth of the brotherly love Dave also has for Toph perhaps lightens the dysfunctional aspects of their relationship. By using imagery, metaphors and some amount of foreshadowing in the beginning of the memoir, Eggers communicates with the various audiences/readers both the positive, redemptive parts of Dave and Toph’s relationship as well as the more dysfunctional elements.

In Chapter 1, Toph is only briefly referred to as his shows are ‘in the washing machine’. It could be interpreted that this is Eggers using foreshadowing to suggest that Toph will soon be following in Dave’s footsteps, as well as suggesting that Toph is not yet a large focal point in Dave’s life. As his shows are being washed, it could suggest that Toph has been outside, playing around and generally just behaving like a child, whereas in contrast to this, the various audiences will also see Toph grow up very quickly as a result of having to live with his older brother after they are orphaned. Further on in the memoir, the readers can also see the impact of their mother’s illness and Dave’s lack of responsibility as Toph refers to himself as being the same age as Dave and his friends by using the collective pronoun ‘our’ (‘Oh, I thought he was our age’). This is hugely effective on the reader as they have essentially seen Toph grow up throughout the memoir, and this jolting realisation that Toph has grown up too much too quickly could make certain audiences, such as parents, understand more deeply just how Dave and Toph’s situation has affected them.

Following on from this and Dave’s responsibility of Toph, Dave is presented by the writer as being in control of many aspects of Toph’s education, both formally and informally. Dave attends an ‘Open House’ at a prospective school which shows that he does have some interest in Toph’s education, however some audiences could argue that as Dave sees this as opportunity to meet an ‘attractive, single mother’ and ‘score’, Dave is more concerned about his lack of romantic relationships than the responsible relationship he should be displaying towards Toph. As Dave teases Toph about asking one of the mothers out, Eggers uses the repetition of ‘Please, please don’t’ which expresses Toph pleading tone and how desperately he does not want Dave to ask her out. But the quotation ‘Of course I won’t’ could communicate to the reader that Dave is taking advantage of Toph’s innocence and naivety, specifically the amount of control and influence he has over Toph’s feelings.

As Dave is both Toph’s older brother and parental guardian, this boundary is frequently overstepped in certain parts of the memoir. However as a memoir is in itself incredibly personal and reflective of the writer, this shows the rawness and honesty of Eggers’ writing style although we do know from the preface that some of the memoir has been ‘entirely reconstructed’ and many aspects of it has been changed. During the episode where Dave playfully pretends to fight Toph with a knife, Toph is immediately afraid and tells him to stop, which could be a representation of the blurred lines between Dave’s older brother role and his parental role.

From previously in the memoir, Dave is presented as a protector of Toph, such as in the symbolism of the superhero painting on the wall and Dave’s fear that something bad will happen to Toph. However the audiences do see Dave behave in more of a child-like manner such as when Dave and Toph are playing Frisbee in the park and when Dave introduces Toph to the band ‘Journey’, saying that ‘in our new world, we will be rocking.’

By using the pronoun ‘our’ and ‘we’, Eggers reinforces the idea that it is Dave and Toph versus the rest of the world, and that in contrast to the beginning of the memoir, Toph is now undeniably a huge part of Dave’s life, a part that Dave couldn’t live without. One of the themes throughout the memoir has been Dave’s constant paranoia and anxiety that ‘people are watching him’ and that Toph will be taken away by social services. These pronouns could highlight how isolated Dave feels, particularly as he has very little help and support when it comes to looking after Toph: their older sister Beth goes to college a very long way away.

The reference to a ‘new world’ emphasises to the readers how much their lives have changed, as their whole worlds have been tipped upside down since they were orphaned. However, the quotation ‘we will be rocking’ is significant as it communicates Dave’s determination that despite everything, Dave still wants both him and Toph to have a good life, one that is not continuously overshadowed by the deaths of their parents.

Despite this, Dave is still very concerned with Toph’s safety and wellbeing, as he appears to be very anxious over leaving Toph alone with the new babysitter, Stephen. This could be interpreted as a contradiction because some audiences may see Dave’s parenting skills as inadequate, so Toph may be even safer with the babysitter than with Dave. Eggers uses the oxymoron ‘red/black worry’ in regards to his anxiety that Stephen will hurt Toph as the colour red often has connotations of blood and violence whereas the lexical term ‘worry’ is much less intimidating compared to, for example, ‘panic’ or ‘fear’. This could communicate to the readers how fixated Dave is on Toph being killed and Dave’s fear of loss, possibly stemming from the loss of his parents. This is typical of Eggers’ style as he tends to keep an underlying theme throughout his texts, and in ‘A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius’, this theme is most notably death, loss and illness.