Question

Daisy is not actually the first member of the Miller Family that Winterbourne meets: he encounters Daisy’s younger brother, Randolph, in the hotel garden before Daisy is introduced. Explain why the author, Henry James, would decide to do this. How does Randolph influence Winterbourne’s (and the reader’s) initial impression of Daisy shortly thereafter? If Daisy symbolizes America, what does her brother symbolize? Why is Randolph important to the story overall? Your answer should be at least 250 words.

Answer 1

By having Winterbourne first meet Randolph instead of Daisy, Henry James is able to establish some indirect inferences about Daisy. She has a younger brother, who is a bit impetuous, as the reader will find Daisy to be. He is a bit manipulative in that he approaches someone he has never met to ask a favor, "Will you give me a lump of sugar?" and with this he pushes his advantage and takes three cubes. This is also very much like his sister as she uses her feminine wiles to get Winterbourne to promise to take her to see the castle. So, in these things, James is able to introduce, in Randolph, some of the traits that the reader will later find in Daisy.

Ramdolph sybolizes the the patriotic fervor seen in many Americans, which the Europeans cannot seem to understand. In Randolph's eyes everything is better in America, 'I can't get any candy here—any American candy. American candy's the best candy," ""American men are the best." He says that even the moon is better in America, "You can't see anything here at night, except when there's a moon. In America there's always a moon!" This unrealistic view of his home country shows his unreserved love for America, but also tends to point towards the shortcomings of teh European countries and his dislike for them, in that they have nothing to compare to America, in Randolph's mind. This is, often, the way in which people see Americans, both proud and boastful, without a desire to understand other cultures.