The Guncle Abroad

“Everyone needed a nemesis; Patrick had instructed Maisie well. And if Walt Disney himself had taught children anything, it’s that stepmothers are wicked, even if Patrick no longer found Livia to be all that bad.”

Patrick approaches life with dramatic flair, often drawing comparisons between the people and situations around him and Hollywood. The reference to Disney reinforces this characterization. Patrick sees Maisie’s aversion to Livia as an extension of the myth that stepmothers are evil.

“An invitation, he surmised, which was the last thing he wanted—when this movie wrapped he was booking a trip for himself somewhere far away from everyone else (or at least all the people he knew).”

Patrick is in a vulnerable place in the beginning of The Guncle Abroad, having recently broken up with his long-term boyfriend and exhausted from his work on set. He wants to travel to reset himself and prepare for his next big steps. The final thought in parentheses introduces his character trait of using humor when dealing with problems, as he sardonically recognizes that the people in his life are not making him happy.

“‘And we’ll meet you in Italy for the wedding. It’ll take their minds off things, and who knows. Maybe it will be good for all three of us.’ Patrick hoped that would once again prove to be true. ‘Just don’t expect another wedding gift. Oven mitts or a casserole dish.’”

Patrick offers to take Maisie and Grant on a trip across Europe and hopes that the restorative properties of travel that he uses for himself will have an impact on them as well. The reference to “[o]ven mitts or a casserole dish” parodies domestic bliss when Greg and Livia’s marriage is unconventional and in jeopardy.