House Arrest

House Arrest explores cause and effect and how these can occur in repeating cycles. The novel’s structure exemplifies this. It is divided into four sections, one for each season of the year. Significantly, the story begins during winter and progresses through the following fall. The four seasons correspond to characters’ circumstances and emotional states. Timothy begins his house arrest for stealing a wallet to pay for Levi’s medicine during Winter, the season when the earth is pivoted away from the sun. During Spring, a time of renewal and rebirth in the natural world, Timothy’s bond with his psychologist and probation officer develops, and he discovers the Jimenez house can be a refuge for him. Timothy’s plans flourish during summer, seasonally a time of intense life and orientation toward the sun, but his family also faces a strong test in the form of Mary, Levi’s new nurse, who (it is implied) reports the family to Child Protective Services (CPS) and advocates to have Levi institutionalized. In Fall, Timothy achieves his goals to raise money for his family and find a doctor who can help Levi, but he also violates his probation by stealing a car to take a seriously ill Levi to the hospital and is sent back to the juvenile correctional facility where he was processed after stealing the wallet.