Bastard of Carolina,
by Dorothy Allison, takes place is Greenville, South Carolina. It is here that
the story of the Boatwright family, a family known for drinking, and
rough men, unfolds. At the core of the novel is a girl named Ruth Anne
Boatwright, more commonly known as Bone throughout the novel. Bone, is a
bastard child with an illegitimate birth certificate who grows up to find
herself immersed in a conflicting household and relationship triangle.
In summary, Bone’s mother Anney marries a man by the name
of Glen when she is very young. Later in the text Anney becomes pregnant. While Anney is delivering the stillborn, Glen rapes Bone in the
parking lot of the hospital. This initial rape in the parking lot is the first
real attack on Bone in the novel that leads into a downward spiral of events in
Bones life as her stepfather continually rapes, beats, and emotionally tortures
her. The cumulating abuse gives Bone bruises, broken bones, and a haunted
heart. Throughout the novel many characters face inner battles. Bone struggles
between silence and speaking up to regain her dignity before she looses
everything. Glen battles against what he
knows is the right thing to do and what his temper makes him do to Bone. Anney
also is at war with herself to make the decision to finally leave Glen or stay
with him.
An article in The
New York Times, tells of a very fascinating yet disturbing account of
domestic violence within Hollywood. Woody Allen, born december 1st, 1935 is an American Director, screenwriter, and playwright. Woody Allen married Mia Farrow.
Woody Allen and Mia
Farrow's daughter Dylan Farrow made public a personal account of her tormenting
experiences in a letter to the New York
Times, in this letter she tells of Woody Allen's sexual abuse towards her
during her childhood.
Dylan
Farrow, in her letter, says, “I was seven years old, Woody
Allen took me by the hand and led me into a dim, closet-like attic on the
second floor of our house. He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my
brother’s electric train set. Then he sexually assaulted me.” She goes on to
explain that for as long as she can remember Woody Allen had been doing things
to her that she did not like. She reveals of how he would make her get in bed
with him when he was in his underwear, touch her thighs inappropriately, and
place his head in her naked lap. I was immediately drawn to this article
because these things were the exact things that were happening to Bone. Bone says in the novel when explaining what Glen was doing to her, “He pinned me between his hip and the sink, lifting
me slightly and bending me over. I reached out and caught hold of the
porcelain, trying not to grab at him, not to touch him.”
In both Bastard of Carolina and Dylan Farrows letter to the New York Times, women stand up to reveal
their deepest and most disturbing life stories. Furthermore, both Bone and Dylan are victims
of sexual assault from their stepfathers.
Later in Dylan Farrows letters she
tells of how after many years of silence she asks her mom if what her
stepfather is doing to her is normal. This is turn leads to huge family
conflicts. Her mother whom is concerned is also worried that she may be lying. Bone
experiences many of these same conflicts when trying to tell what has happened
to her. Dylan explains that after she tells her mother this, the doctors and
lawyers start getting involved and she must re account her story again and
again. Bone experiences interactions with the doctors when Glen abuses her one-day
so bad that she must see a doctor for her crushed tailbone. The doctor
immediately assumes domestic violence and asks Bone is she has been abused.
In Bastard
of Carolina, Anney leaves Glen after learning about his violent tendencies
towards Bone only to come running back to him again and again. Similarly, Dylan
Farrow say’s, “my mother declined to pursue criminal charges [.
. .] Woody Allen was never convicted of any crime. That he got away with what
he did to me haunted me as I grew up. I was stricken with guilt.”
Both mothers in each story
struggle immensely with the love they have for their child along with the love
they feel towards their husbands. I feel like both mothers allow the dark truth
to be repressed in their minds to the point where it is almost as the abuse is
not a reality. In Chapter 5 of Bastard of
Carolina, Bone say’s “When he let me go, there was a bruise, and Mama saw
it right away” (Allison, 70). From this quote the readers knows early on that
whether Anney admitted it or not she knew there was domestic violence
occurring, and essentially it was her decision to stay with Glen.
Both
Dorothy Allison writing this novel, and Dylan Farrow publishing this letter
about her celebrity father, made many people angry. In my opinion however I am
extremely glad that these women stand up for themselves and work to share their
stories with millions of people despite the embarrassment, shame, guilt, and
difficulties in inflicted on their life. Literature should seek to both excite
a reader emotionally and work to teach a lesson. Literature is not made only to
please a reader because it is something that exposes a story and sometimes life
is not pretty and things are messy. Good books in my opinion make you really
think, they make you angry, sad, sympathetic, and lastly they are relatable.
Millions who read this article and novel have learned that breaking your
silence can be one of the hardest yet rewarding experiences in ones life.
http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/01/an-open-letter-from-dylan-farrow/
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