Saint Maybe Themes & Symbolism

Saint Maybe Significant Topics

Optimism

At the beginning of the novel, the Bedloes are the perfect family partly because of their relentless optimism. Bee Bedloe, the mother, sets the tone for this optimism. Bee has a wonderful marriage. She delights in her modest house, daily. Her children are all attractive, talented and universally loved. None of this optimism is an act. Rather, it is a conscious choice Bee has made to look on the bright side of any situation, to be content with what life brings her. When her older son, Danny, eschews college to work for the post office, Bee insists he is lucky to have found his calling so young. When daughter Claudia quits college to get married and starts having children so fast they have to be named alphabetically, Ian hesitates slightly, but Bee insists she hopes they work all the way through the alphabet and have to start on double letters.