| Ruth Anne Boatwright, nicknamed Bone, is the narrator and the bastard of Dorothy Allison's "Bastard Out of Carolina." Beginning with her birth during an automobile accident and her mother's attempts to get the red inked block letters of illegitimacy removed from her birth certificate, she chronicles her childhood in Greenville until she is almost thirteen. Bone's family is “working class,” others would probably call them white trash.
Bone looks at a school bus filled with children she hates because she knows they are looking down on her. She resents her step father's family because she recognizes that they treat her and her sister like trash. The sheriff, the manager of Woolworths, the nurse at the hospital, even when they seem to acting nicely are demeaning in their condescension. Bone's response is to steal candy from Woolworth's, befriending the albino Shannon Pearl who is even more of an outsider than she is, and daydreaming of gospel music stardom. But in the end it is in her family that she must find comfort and safety. The problem for Bone is that in her case the safety net fails. Her step father, Daddy Glen, is both a child batterer and a molester. Her mother, unaware at first of the molesting and torn by her love for both, at first accepts his reasons for the beatings, until by the end of the novel she is forced to choose between the two. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of book? - depressed Time/era of story - 1930's-1950's Kids growing up/acting up? Yes Family, struggle with Yes Struggle with: - Father (or standin) Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Age group of kid(s) in story: - grade school Parents/lack of parents problem? Main Character Gender - Female Profession/status: Age: - a kid Ethnicity/Nationality Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - 40's-50's How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor Intelligence - Average intelligence Setting How much descriptions of surroundings? - 3 () United States Yes The US: - Southeast Writing Style Amount of dialog - mostly dialog |
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