The Importance of Names in The Cider House Rules

     The Cider House Rules , written in 1985 by John Irving, is a meditation on the importance of rules, the act of breaking them, and the choices we make in life. The story focuses on two protagonists – Homer Wells, an orphan at St. Cloud’s Orphanage, and Dr. Wilbur Larch, the orphanage’s director. Through a series of circumstances, and of possibly destiny, Homer Wells is unable to be placed with any families. He finally becomes something that belongs at St. Clouds, and in an effort to make sure he is suitably prepared for life, Dr. Larch begins to mentor him in both medicine and the procedures of abortion. Irving uses a detail oriented style, both dark in humor and dark in circumstance, to shed light on the many social and economic issues of abortion, and of ultimately, one’s identity.

     While the major theme focuses on individuality, and the rules one lives his life by, it is within the names that we find deeper meaning in the characters and places set within this book. From the very start the importance of names, and the act of naming, is made significant. The two nurses at the orphanage – Nurse Angela and Nurse Edna – were in charge of giving names to the newly acquired children. While one lacked any creativity, the other would utilize a “number of no-nonsense nouns, which she diligently employed as last names … [and a] list of first names borrowed from a family history of many dead but cherished pets” (16). Although time is spent on coming up with the names, it is the policy of the orphanage to allow the adoptive parents to rename their children; the feeling being that the children “should know the thrill of a fresh start” (16) and not be tied down to the identity given them in such a trivial way. It is in this manner that the reader is first introduced to a concept of identity, one linked with names, and the importance that Dr. Larch places on fresh starts, for in his mind, a child should not be associated to a past that he has no control of.

     In addition to the importance placed on individual names, there is additional importance placed on the very homes that the orphans first come to know. St. Cloud’s, originally simply “clouds”, is a paper mill town, first settled by the French, then woodsmen, sawyers, and lumberjacks. The Ramses Paper Company set up shop and began to decimate the land of its trees, and ultimately of any positive identity. With the type of men needed to profit from the area came the vices needed to satisfy those men’s urges – mainly gambling, booze, and prostitutes. When all the trees were gone, and Ramses left town, the only people that stayed in town were “the older, and the less attractive prostitutes, and the children of these prostitutes” (19), thus the need for an orphanage and the beginning of Dr. Larch’s lifelong work. The curious use of the name Ramses brings up connotations of the Egyptian Pharaoh of the same name, a deliberate move on the author’s part. Ramses was known for his insatiable greed and self aggrandizement. He laid waste to the common man in his kingdom in search of power, similar to that of the modern day corporation and lumber barons of the 20^th century. It is no coincidence that the Ramses Paper Company was not only the catalyst for the orphanage’s need, but also one that symbolic represents the barren wasteland left in St. Cloud’s.

     Of course the most important names in a novel are those of the main characters, one of which is the medical doctor, Wilbur Larch. While the etymology of Wilbur does not lend itself to a symbolic representation of the man, the last name does. A “larch” is a coniferous tree that yields a tough, yet durable, wood. This meaning seems to fit perfectly within the logos of Dr. Larch. A bright, young doctor, whose first sexual experience left him confused and ashamed, ultimately comes to the aid of a prostitute in the town of St. Cloud’s. It is there that he becomes most useful, employing his knowledge of obstetrics and abortions to take care of the children and females that come see him. He wrote that he “was grateful for [his] children” and for the “act of bringing them into this world” which was the “safest phase of their journey” (54). His morals and ethical ideals were firm, similar to that of the wood from a Larch tree. It is specifically his unyielding concept of right and wrong that helps forge Homer’s identity, like that of a father guiding his son, and finally bestows an identity that Homer can grab on to.

     Finally, the name of Homer Wells holds the most significance and symbolic nature in the novel. Homer was originally named for Nurse Angela’s cat and the work of her father, which was drilling wells. It can be said that Irving’s use of the name Homer brings up the notion of a homing pigeon, a bird trained to always return home. After several unsuccessful attempts at placement within families, Homer always returns to St. Cloud’s, as if at a young age he was aware that the orphanage was his home and Dr. Larch was his father. It came to the point where the nurses and Larch “were forced to admit that Homer Wells belonged to St. Cloud’s” deciding that Homer “was not put up for adoption anymore” (16). Another possible interpretation of Wells’ name is Homer, the poet and writer of The Odyssey. Ten years after the Trojan War Odysseus is attempting to get home. While the comparison to Homer Wells is not as exact within the parallels, both go through various trials and tribulations attempting to “find” their home. Both have little or no choice in the actions, but are rather swept side to side by fate and destiny. It could be said that both are unwilling actors in the choices they make – both knowing what they want to do but being unwilling to accomplish it on their own. It is only at the end of Homer Wells’ journey where he accepts the destiny he was given and takes over as the medical director of the St. Cloud’s orphanage.

     Considered a work of Contemporary Fiction, it is unknown how future audiences will react to this work and if it will be placed in the American Literary Canon. It is, however, a great work. Irving’s style of detail, dark humor, while tackling social and taboo issues, deserves the recognition he has received. In the novels I have read, there is always a quirk of character that somehow illuminates the theme in ways that are not typical in most modern fiction. He certainly does so in this book, written in a time when Roe v. Wade was still very fresh in the minds of America. The tenacity in which he tackles the subject is both admirable and refreshing.