Discuss Beth’s journey of coming to terms with her son’s death. How does the arrival of Leo and Gabriel affect her ability to cope with that loss?
I don’t know that Beth has ever really come to terms with her son’s death, but the arrival of Leo and Gabriel deeply affect her. Gabriel, of course, reminds her of own son and what she has lost. While she enjoys spending time with him and getting to know him, she knows he can’t replace Bobby. And then the return of Gabriel also brings back her youth and the excitement of those times and her love affair with Gabriel.
She knows Leo is Bobby’s half brother. Leo reminds her of Bobby. He looks like her son and she wants to make him into a boy who acted like her son. She enjoys spending time with him.
Leo and Bobby share Gabriel’s characteristics. This truth seems to bring Beth closer to wanting Gabriel in her life again as well as Leo. While Leo isn’t a replacement child, he does evoke memories and closeness that Beth and Bobby shared.