The Burgess Boys

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of substance use, mental illness, death, and racism.

From the opening, the novel stresses the way that the dynamics between the Burgess siblings impact their individual identities and perspectives. The accidental death of their father—during which all three siblings were present—caused their mother, Barbara, to favor Bob out of compassion and a desire to reassure Bob that he was loved. At the same time, Barbara was cruel toward Susan for reasons that are not made clear. Jim, as the eldest, was confident and self-assured, assuming a role of leadership and dominance over his younger siblings.

These childhood roles became engrained in the siblings and inform their interactions as adults. Both Bob and Susan have been taught that Jim is much more competent than they are and, further, that no problem is too large for Jim to resolve. They rely exclusively on him to remedy any dilemmas that pop up, especially the legal action against Zach. They view themselves as far less capable and successful. Bob, in particular, reveres Jim, even though Jim is crass and cruel to Bob and far from emotionally supportive. Though twins, Bob and Susan are not close—a result of the very different treatments of each of them by their mother.