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America in the 1950s is often viewed as a time of peace, prosperity, and general well-being. How does this book puncture that idealized vision? How are the inner lives of the characters at odds with their appearances?
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And also a time of still deeply entrenched racism, intolerance and rigid boundaries. I specifically remember bathrooms and water fountains labeled “White Only” and “Colored,” public spaces that African-Americans were not allowed to use. The small town where I lived did not have either Native American or Asian people but the prejudice that Noah and Kyoko experienced would have been there if we did. Wendell Moon would have been welcome only as the cook at the Wagon Wheel. Either of those men would have been immediately and unquestionably considered guilty of the death of Jimmy Quinn, just because. Noah Bluestone is simply first in line as murder suspect.
Jewel has an air of prosperity about it as do most of its residents. Most people have decent work and a place to live. They have a Memorial Day celebration, book discussions and a movie theatre.
But, peace and general well-being, not so much. Compared to the conditions in the wars that these men knew, there is surely peace and safety. But they carry the memories of their wartime experiences and the assumptions they needed to survive that. They hold old prejudices and grudges. And they struggle with personal losses that have nothing to do with the war. The Epilogue is one of my favorite chapters of TRWR; it makes sense of the contrasts between the promise of peace and prosperity and the personal stories of the important characters.
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The idealized vision of the 1950s is punctured by the loneliness and isolation of those men who are haunted by what they did and saw during the war. Brody Dern, Connie Graff, Sam Wicklow, Tyler Creasy, Felix Klein and Noah Bluestone were all emotionally wounded. While some kept their pain buried deep inside with the appearance of normal behavior in society, others numbed their pain in alcoholism and behavior not appropriate in society. “War does something vile and irreparable to the human spirit, leaves thick scars on the soul.” All of that in contrast to a time of new prosperity.
Angie and Ida Madison also have scars from the war with the loss of Christian. Because Angie and Ida have lost the men of their lives, they almost smothered Scott. His father was not real to him, only stories. Scott believed that “loneliness was the normal condition of people.” Del acted out his pain and the loss of his father in dangerous ways.
Charlotte (Charlie) Bauer’s own childhood was a personal war where she was punished for not being the child her father wanted. “She’d learned from her father that she was somehow unworthy of love, that no matter what she did, she could never win it.” Over time, she’d learned “to see what was beautiful about her, and she tried to look at other people with the same forgiving eye, and this had made a vast difference in how she embraced what life offered her.”
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The idealized vision of the 1950s to me often revolves around a male perspective of domesticity. Women are caregivers at home raising children, and the men are the breadwinners going to work and everything is in a state of “balance.” Or so the myth goes. What we see in this book is the domestic life the Quinns are subject to violence and suppression, where Jimmy Quinn has control of his family and they are only “there” to service his every whim – those whims being destructive and harmful. As you mention, Nancy, Charlie and her father have a power struggle. There’s also a power struggle between Del and his stepfather, Creasy. And I think you are quite right that many of the men are haunted by their wartime experiences – so many of the characters turn to alcohol to numb their pain.
Prejudice and outright racism are also prevalent, as you note, Jane. On the surface of the community of Jewel, everything seems peaceful, but the moment Quinn is found dead, everything is thrown into turmoil and these negative emotions bubble to the surface. WKK brings all these elements together so well doesn’t he?
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