The Subject Was Roses

WWII has ended, and twenty-one year old US Army Corporal Timmy Cleary has just returned to live at the Bronx apartment of his parents, John and Nettie Cleary, after fighting in the infantry since age eighteen. Behind closed doors, John and Nettie's marriage has long been in name only. John and Nettie have different perspectives of what they wanted in their marriage, and each has taken different measures in dealing with their marriage falling apart. Staunch Catholic John, who wants the world to see their lives as being perfect, drinks to excess and has had extramarital dalliances. Nettie has focused her attentions on her blood relations, most specifically her mother and a disabled relative named Willis. Before Timmy left for the war, he, a sickly child largely due to being coddled by his mother, knew what was going on in the apartment, but had no say as the minor among the three. Now an adult, Timmy not only is not afraid to express his opinion on their dysfunction or any topic, but changes his viewpoint on whose fault it is for that dysfunction as he more clearly sees his parents for who they are. Timmy's return changes the dynamic within the apartment which may make John and Nettie deal more openly with their long standing problems.