Characters Whistler Ann Patchett

Abigail Triplett in Whistler: A Character Analysis

Overview

Abigail Triplett is the mother of Daphne and Leda Zabriskie and the former wife of Eddie Triplett. She is a publishing professional who works alongside Eddie at Houghton Mifflin in Boston during the late 1970s. Her marriage to Eddie is brief but transformative for both families. The novel reveals her primarily through flashback—especially in the interstitial chapter set in January 1980—and through Daphne’s adult recollections. Abigail emerges as a capable yet anxious woman who is both a beneficiary of Eddie’s competence and an unwitting participant in his closeted life. Her silent suspicion of Eddie’s homosexuality shapes her decisions and her eventual second marriage to Lucas Ekker.

Plot Role

Abigail appears directly in only one interstitial chapter (Chapter 3, set in January 1980) and is mentioned throughout Daphne’s narrative. Her plot role is that of a catalyst: she marries Eddie after he reveals his affair with Skip Hotalling, offering him a “normal” life. She also produces the car accident sequence indirectly—her decision to stay at Leda’s hospital bed leads Eddie to take Daphne on the raspberry-farm detour that ends in the crash. Later, Daphne reflects on Abigail’s life with Lucas, her financial acumen, and her unspoken regret over losing Eddie. Abigail’s choices echo forward into the present-day reunion: she remains alive in the novel’s present, sleeping while Daphne and Leda talk in Chapter 7, and her presence hovers over the sisters’ reckoning.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

Abigail is driven by a desire for stability and love, but her actions reveal a mixture of competence and self-doubt. When Leda falls ill, Abigail initially hesitates to leave work, torn between her job and her child. Eddie urges her to go and to check for appendicitis; she follows his advice, and Leda’s appendix ruptures during surgery. In the hospital hallway, Abigail’s fear transforms into rage directed at her ex-husband Buddy Zabriskie. The text notes that she “turned her fear into rage because she could not abide the fear.” This pattern—turning fear into anger—repeats in her later life.

She is also shown as intellectually sharp: Daphne recalls that Abigail self-taught financial skills and made shrewd real estate and stock investments. Yet Abigail remains emotionally dependent on Eddie’s steadiness. The evidence describes her feeling that she knows “nothing at all” about keeping children alive, and that without Eddie’s preemptive direction she might have let Leda die. Her self-deprecation contrasts with her actual success as a publishing professional.

Chronological Arc

Abigail’s arc spans from her young adulthood through the novel’s present. Key moments:

  • Early 1970s: Marries Buddy Zabriskie, has Daphne and Leda. Buddy abandons them for fishing.
  • Late 1970s: Works at Houghton Mifflin, meets Eddie. After learning of his relationship with Skip, she and Eddie marry. They live in Winchester with the girls.
  • January 18, 1980: Leda’s appendicitis crisis; Abigail hesitates, then takes her to the hospital. That evening, Eddie and Daphne go on the raspberry-farm excursion that ends in a crash. Abigail stays at the hospital, unaware.
  • Post‑accident: Eddie leaves the family (implied divorce). Abigail later marries Lucas Ekker, a wealthy older man, and has two sons, Christopher and Matthew. She remains in the Winchester house.
  • Novel present: Abigail is elderly, sleeping while Daphne and Leda talk in Chapter 7. Daphne reflects on her mother’s life—the tradeoffs she made, her financial success, and her unspoken longing for the friendship she once had with Eddie.

Relationships

With Eddie Triplett

Abigail and Eddie are friends first—office colleagues who support each other. After Eddie confesses his love for Skip, Abigail offers marriage as a “deal”: he must give up Skip and give up being gay. The narrative makes clear she “didn’t know any better” about the impossibility of such a bargain. Despite this, their marriage is genuinely affectionate; Eddie adores the girls, and Abigail relies on his calm competence. After the divorce, Daphne imagines that Abigail would “give it all back to be married to Eddie Triplett now,” wanting a friend more than a conventional husband.

With Daphne and Leda

Abigail is a flawed but devoted mother. She works full‑time, struggles with guilt, and sometimes fails to prioritize her children (her initial hesitation over Leda). Yet she keeps the family together after Buddy leaves, and her later financial success provides security. Daphne’s adult perspective is sympathetic: she calls her mother’s survival “heroic” and acknowledges that Abigail managed something she herself could not have endured.

With Lucas Ekker

Lucas is Abigail’s second husband, a wealthy older man who is “Mr. Positivity.” Their marriage appears transactional; Daphne describes it as sustained by Abigail’s financial cleverness. Lucas is dismissive and self-absorbed. The line “Was my mother looking out the window? Was this her life every day?” suggests Abigail’s quiet unhappiness in this relationship.

Key Decisions and Consequences

  1. Marrying Eddie despite knowing his secret: This decision gives the family three years of stability but ultimately fails. The consequence is that both Eddie and Abigail live inauthentically for a time, and the marriage ends after the accident.
  2. Staying at the hospital instead of going home: By declining Eddie’s offer to trade places, Abigail inadvertently sets the stage for the car crash. The narrative does not blame her, but her absence allows the fatal detour.
  3. Silence about Eddie’s homosexuality: Abigail never tells the girls the full truth. This silence contributes to the sisters’ decades‑long confusion about why Eddie left. Only in the adult reunion does the truth emerge.
  4. Marrying Lucas for financial security: Abigail leverages her skills to build wealth, but the marriage lacks genuine partnership. Daphne observes that “a friend was the better person to have” than Lucas.

Theme and Symbol Connections

  • Memory and Identity: Abigail’s life is a series of attempts to craft an identity—as a mother, a wife, a career woman. Her marriage to Eddie is an effort to rewrite her story after Buddy’s abandonment. Yet she suppresses the true story of why it ended, which shapes her daughters’ identities.
  • Secrecy and Truth: Abigail’s silent complicity in Eddie’s closet is a form of secrecy that damages the family. She knows the truth but never speaks it, a choice that echoes into the present.
  • Love and Sacrifice: She sacrifices her own emotional needs for practical stability. Her love for Eddie is real but channeled into a bargain that cannot hold.
  • Mortality and Impermanence: The almost‑death of Leda and the actual accident force Abigail to confront impermanence. Her rage at Buddy Zabriskie is really a fear of losing everything.
  • Family and Reconciliation: By the novel’s end, Abigail is a figure who awaits—asleep but present—the reconciliation her daughters are working through. Her legacy is complex: she gave them love but also secrets.

Interpretation vs. Explicit Fact

  • Explicit fact: Abigail married Eddie after he told her he was in love with Skip. She asked him to give up being gay. He agreed.
  • Explicit fact: She suspected Eddie’s homosexuality before the marriage? The evidence shows she learned it from his confession after the Turkish restaurant dinner. The “suspected” language in the prompt is an inference: she might have had earlier inklings, but the text does not state that.
  • Interpretation: That Abigail regretted the marriage’s end more than she regretted Eddie’s sexuality. This is supported by Daphne’s thought that “she would give it all back to be married to Eddie Triplett now” and the wish that he could be “as gay as he wanted.” But the text does not directly state Abigail’s feelings.
  • Interpretation: That Abigail’s silence about Eddie’s sexuality was a form of protection or shame. The narrative shows she never told the girls; the motivations are left ambiguous.

Book‑Specific Questions and Answers

  1. Why does Abigail agree to marry Eddie after learning he is in love with Skip?
    She offers marriage as an “off‑ramp” from his half‑life. She cares for him and wants a family, and at that time she believed a conventional life was possible if he suppressed his sexuality. The deal was that he give up Skip and give up being gay.

  2. How does Abigail react to Leda’s appendicitis crisis, and what does it reveal about her personality?
    She initially hesitates, worried about missing a work meeting. Eddie pushes her to go. At the hospital, her fear turns to rage toward Buddy Zabriskie. This shows her anxiety, her reliance on Eddie, and her tendency to channel fear into anger.

  3. What role does Abigail play in the car accident that ends her marriage?
    She chooses to stay at Leda’s bedside rather than go home with Eddie and Daphne. Eddie then takes Daphne on an impulsive stargazing trip to a raspberry farm, which leads to the crash. Abigail is not directly at fault, but her decision enables the sequence of events.

  4. Why does Daphne believe her mother would “give it all back to be married to Eddie Triplett now”?
    Daphne observes that her mother’s second marriage (to Lucas Ekker) is loveless and transactional. She imagines Abigail would prefer the genuine friendship and affection she had with Eddie, even if he were openly gay. The line underscores Abigail’s emotional isolation.

  5. Does Abigail ever tell her daughters the truth about Eddie’s sexuality?
    No. The novel implies she never revealed the secret. In the present timeline, Eddie himself tells Daphne at a wedding party. Abigail’s silence contributes to her daughters’ childhood confusion and guilt over the divorce.

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