Beginning of Essay
Throughout the novel, there are instances of both violent and more refined sexual references. While an obvious reason for these is the titillating effects of them, there are deeper, more relevant reasons for them. There are three main groups within which the sexu ....

Middle of Essay
.... relationship between Mother and Father is one that seems to be held together purely by sexual desire. The first reference to this is at the very beginning of the novel. Doctorow writes, "On Sunday afternoon, after dinner, Father and Mother went upstairs and closed the bedroom door"(p 4). Their marriage is happy as long as they continue to have a good physical relationship. Whereas in the beginning of the novel Mother and Father's relationship was good, by the end of the novel "He felt it had been stupid to leave his wife alone"(p 233). Mother's disdain for Father is conveyed to the reader when he tells her that he will be taking their boy to ....