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LOCAL LITERARY EVENT:

Sunday, March 25, 2018

Author Sue Monk Kidd Earns Her Wings


Everybody liked reading The Invention of Wings, by Sue Monk Kidd. The most common criticism was that the story dragged a little in the middle; it got too detailed among the descriptions of the abolitionist arguments and speeches, as well as the feminist and suffrage rights that were combined with anti-oppression rights.

At the beginning of the discussion, there were general opinions about the book and its interface with the social norms, including the following comments: 
Linda: The Quaker church was pro-abolition but at the same time conservative and sexist.
Flo: Oppressive and sexist attitudes were common; they reflected the time.
Marcia: Nurses and teachers weren’t allowed to be married, because women's main function was to marry, have children and take care of them.

As is often the case, our discussion strayed from the events in the story to the ideas generated by these events and their impact and expression in modern society. Here are some examples: 
Dennis:  Growing up in the south, the customs and ideas that were central to the book were still in force but were more rudimentary. Whereas the rare early liberal-to-radical arguments said that oppression of anybody was oppression of everybody; it wasn’t until later that popular movements were against all oppression. Dennis pointed out that there was a lot of disagreement among abolitionists about other kinds of oppression, such as that of women.
Heather: She was raised to be a wife and mother, rather than encouraged to choose a career. Raised in Charleston, Heather has found that this attitude is still popular there, and the feeling that Blacks should be slaves is rarely spoken but still there. Heather noted that generations pass attitudes forward.
Dennis: People are still kept on farms to work; their positions as laborers and not landowners have been carried on and inherited.
Marcia: Nurses’ shifts are mandatory, leaving not much choice to those who wish to work.
Linda: In Appalachia, poverty brings the lives of Blacks and Whites together in similarity and shared difficulty in escaping the essentially oppressive lifestyles they are born into.
Carla: You’d think older generations would die out and prejudices would go away, but she has heard children express prejudices that were surprising and obviously learned from older family members.
Ken: The Ku Klux Klan is still active, leading a lot of racism, and is a vibrant organization in Texas.

A box of quotes and discussion questions gleaned from various web sites for discussions of this book had been passed around the room, and the following were some of the questions and answers:
Morna chose the question as to what it might have been like to have received your own slave at the age of 10. Morna said she would have liked the idea!
Flo said it was unusual for Sarah to not want her own slave, and that Sarah was ahead of her time.

Joyce M. picked the question as to why Sarah wouldn’t marry. She said that with Sarah’s views about slavery and rights for women, Sarah would have felt that she was enslaved by a husband.

Joanne drew the question asking why the book’s title was apt. Joanne had thought the title was perfect, referring to the new ideas about women’s rights as an “invention of wings.”
Joanne noted that Harriet Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1852 and that her life overlapped with those of the Grimke sisters. She wondered whether Harriet Beecher Stowe was influenced by the Grimkes’ publications. The group decided that we thought that these women probably knew of each other, as all had achieved some notoriety.

Marcia mentioned that slaves used quilts with stories sewed on them, with trees etc indicating directions to safe houses during Underground Railroad times.
Marcia read the question that asked which character in the book was the most “free.” She thought it was probably Sky, because Sky’s job was outdoors, tending the garden.

Carla drew a question about punishments of slaves and the brutality of the Work House. She said she was surprised at the intensity of physical treatment of the slaves, especially because the slaves were valuable workers and could work best when undamaged.
Ken suggested that one reason for steep punishments was to keep the slaves strictly in line, partly because actions of slaves at one house in the community would be known at others. If slaves got away with rebellion or freedoms at one house, another slave owner might decide to interfere.

Joyce M’s question from the box asked what cunning ways the slaves disobeyed. She listed the hoarding of red thread, Charlotte’s stealing the fabric, and hiding money. She also said that teaching Handful to read was a way that Sarah rebelled.

Another important aspect of the book that our discussion brought up is the basic conflict between truth and hyperbole involved in historical fiction. Some members expressed frustration with not knowing what details were true and to what extent, and others were more comfortable with interpretation of how the story fits into history. 
Flo thought the Grimke sisters were super bold and that Sarah was ahead of her time in preferring to function without a slave.
Carla thought that much about the abolitionist movement could be fictitious.
Joyce M. mentioned that the abolitionist writings have been published. Joyce also said that having begun the book not knowing that some of it was fiction, and then having read the detailed author’s note at the end saying that much of the book was fiction; she was sorry to have read it and would have preferred all history or all fiction. She thought Sarah’s excess of progressive ideas might have been fictitious.
Dennis said that he prefers to read a book without reading a detailed preface first, so that the book stands on its own.
Linda said it made sense that Sarah grew into the character by reading a lot of books.
Peggy thought that Sarah’s being traumatized at a young age by seeing a slave beaten went a long way in explaining Sarah’s later ideas about slavery.
Carla thought the book’s being based on history was interesting, even though some was fiction.

Sue Monk Kidd wrote a complex and impressive book! Oprah Winfrey interviewed the author on a Super Soul Sunday interview. To watch, click here.

To see a story told in the Gullah dialect, click here.

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