Characters
“An irresistible cast of characters… Allison renders their every look and touch with absolute precision and discernment.” – San Francisco Book Review*
Alma (by Kevin)
Bone’s aunt, Annie’s sister. The aunt that mama is closest to. Alma takes care of mama after the baby is born, lets mama stay with her when Daddy Glen is abusive or they fall on hard times.
Anney (by Kevin)
Anney
Boatwright is a very attractive woman from a large extended family spread all
over Greenville. Her brothers and sisters all live close to one another and she
shares close relationships with each in a family known for drinking,
fighting and shooting but long on love. She
works at a diner in town. She is a good waitress and enjoys flirting with her
male customers, which comes naturally to her because she is
http://www.hibf.org/graphics/blond-waitress.jpg so attractive.
Although Bone's father is
unknown, Anney takes responsibility for raising her daughter to the best of her
befuddled ability. Anney is a widow, formerly married to Lyle Parsons, killed in
a racing accident. Lyle is the father of Anney's second child, Reese. Anney is
torn between her love for her daughters and her love for her husband, Glen
Wadell, "Daddy Glen". Anney stretches to love both her daughter and her husband
simultaneously and stop the vicious circle of violent
abuse between husband and stepdaughter, causing much of the conflict that
makes the story one that leaves the reader both saddened and angered.
http://www.dailyrecord.com/news/dayinthelife/jefferson/images/0521x2diner4.jpg
Beau (by Robyn)
Beau, like the other uncles, imbibes in his
share of beer and gets in his share of fights. “Boy liked beer better than
mother’s milk,” Aunt Ruth says of her brother Beau, (page 128). While Ruth
chastises Beau, his brother Earle sticks up for Beau, saying that his wife and
all the trouble in his life lead him to drink. In this depiction of Beau,
Allison depicts two important themes about Appalachian life. First, Earle’s
blaming the wife depicts what sociologist Virginia Rinaldo Seitz calls the
“danger
of being female,” meaning that women
are expected to fulfill a certain role – namely being a wife who works to
satisfy her husband in every way – and
are criticized when they fall short. Beau’s alcoholism also links to the
stereotype of the Appalachian man as a moonshine-swilling drunk. But, by
carefully including Earle’s statement that Beau’s got “worse stuff in his life
than beer,” and is driven to drink, Allison depicts how desperation, suffering
and frustrations of Appalachians’ often poverty stricken lives may lead to the
increased alcoholism in the area. Perhaps she is saying beer isn’t an ordinary
weakness, but rather an escape mechanism from a very harsh world.
(photos by
Shelby Lee Adams and
www.pabstblueribbon.com)
Bone (by Kerry)
Ruth Ann Boatwright, also known as “Bone,” is the main
character in Bastard Out of Carolina. As the title indicates, Bone’s
father’s identity is unknown and despite her mother’s efforts, Bone’s birth
certificate remains tarnished by the word ‘bastard.’ She introduces herself to
the reader through the saga of her designation as a bastard. She says, “There I
was—certified a bastard of South Carolina” (Allison 3). Bone’s first person
narration brings the reader closest to her and throughout the course of the
novel we see Bone develop from a helpless child to a more mature, though
scarred, young woman. The novel opens with Bone living in Greenville, South
Carolina, with her mother, Anney, and younger sister, Reese.
Her life revolves
around a core of strong, maternal female relatives. Despite the obvious
poverty
the family experiences, Bone’s early life is ideal when compared to the changes
that occur when Anney marries Daddy Glen. Then, the real struggle of Bone’s
life begins. Though she is only a young child, Daddy Glen takes all his
frustrations out on Bone, physically and sexually abusing her while her mother
turns her head. Bone reacts with anger, hatred and confusion, the combination
of which lead to sexual fantasies and a poor self-image. One of the few means
by which Bone seeks salvation is through her love of gospel music and she pleads
to God for the gift of song. But eventually, Bone recognizes this dream will
not be realized, and she seeks a haven in the homes of her aunts. She
eventually finds a role model in her Aunt Raylene but Bone will undoubtedly
struggle with her harrowing experiences for the rest of her life. However, the
end of the novel indicates the beginning of redemption for Bone’s character. No
longer focusing on her label as a bastard, she ends the novel saying, “I was who
I was going to be, someone like her, like Mama, a Boatwright woman” (Allison
309). (left photo, Elizabeth De Ramus Sumners, right photo by Sally Mann)
Daddy Glen (by Kerry)
Bone’s Uncle Earl introduces Anney to Glen Waddell at the beginning of the novel. Glen, a trucker for the RC Cola plant, falls in love with Anney, marries her two years later, and becomes Daddy Glen to Bone and Reese. Glen lives under the shadow of his father and brothers. While all his brothers are professionals with steady incomes, Glen is unable to keep a steady job and his father taunts him as a failure. Whenever Glen brings Anney and the girls to his father’s house, he doesn’t leave “before his father [has] delivered his lecture on all the things Glen had done wrong in his long life of failure and disappointment” (Allison 99). Glen's inability to emulate the lives of his brothers and gain the respect of his father leads to his frustrated, jealous and emotionally disturbed character. Though he tries to hide his full character behind his love for Anney, he is fully dependent on and violently possessive of her. He takes his resentment, which manifests in anger and lust, out on Bone, physically and sexually abusing her from the time she is a young child.
“Uncle Earle was my favorite of all my uncles.
He was known as Black Earle for three counties around,” (Allison 24) says Bone
near the novel’s beginning. Bone, a child who is o
ften pushed around and feels
powerless in her abusive home is likely so attracted to a man like Earle because
he can strike fear just by walking into a room. But, for all Earle’s strength,
he is always very gentle with the family. While he does drink a lot and brawl
just as often, Allison does develop Earle’s character to break down some
stereotypes of the Appalachian man as an unsentimental alcoholic. Earle still
misses the family he lost when his “cheating ways” caused his wi
fe to leave him.
He also stands up for the family members he does have left, like Bone. When he
discovers Bone’s scars and scabs from Daddy Glen’s beatings, Earle screams,
“I’ll murder you, you son of a bitch,” (246). His violent loyalty to his niece
displays the common theme in Appalachian literature about the dependence and
importance of the family. The uncles will immediately join up against Glen, an
outsider in that he is the newest member of the Boatwright clan, when he hurts
one within it. (photos by
Shelby Lee Adams and
http://www.classicphotos.com)
Although all the uncles are more fighters than
talkers, Allison describes Nevil as a man who is “…supposed to be the quietest
man in Greenville County. He is married to Fay (supposedly the
fattest woman in the county). Allison says Nevil is a man who “…never wasted words when he could move his hands,” (Allison
45). Granny made this comment once, and since then, Nevil and Fay do not
get along with Granny. The couple owns a house which is dug into the side
of a hill. Daddy Glen doe
sn’t like it, calling
it a “nigger shanty”.(82) This evokes ideas about masculinity, in the ability to provide
,
as well as the racial barriers. Like the other
uncles, Nevil is also a drinker. By imbibing with Earle and Glen after the birth
of the baby, he makes another outright display of his masculinity. Nevil’s character, of the
strong-and-silent man, appears elsewhere in Appalachian literature. The main
character in Cold Mountain, Inman, for instance, also has a bit of
trouble expressing himself verbally. Yet, in their quiet way, both men do show a very
strong love for those close to them. Just as Inman can finally speak when seeing Ada again, Nevil is able to speak out when he claims he hopes Anney will have a
boy, just to stop any problems with Glen “…because Anney’s had enough trouble in
her life, “ (Allison 45).Nevil also shows this love when he beats up Glen when
the family discovered that he abused Bone. (photos
by
Shelby Lee Adams)
Raylene, Bone’s aunt and Annie’s sister, rents a house on the edge
of town and is one of the the only family members who doesn’t move around a lot.
Her home's location also serves an important symbolic
function -- like it's site on the edge of town, Raylene, too, is considered
outside the norm. While all of the women in this novel test stereotypical gender
roles in the strength they can show, Raylene completely smashes them
down. She
refuses to live a life that does not fit her just because she is a woman. Raylene once ran off to follow her lover in a carnival, frequently wears
overalls and boots, and takes care of the harder, physical labor. When she is
angry and wants to protect her family, her threats towards
Daddy Glen carry as much weight as those from big, rough Uncle Earle. As a
lesbian woman, she is also free from the Yet, for all her toughness, Raylene
also teaches Bone some of the most tender lessons about love, hurt and
forgiveness. As Bone lies recovering on her porch, Raylene speaks to her about
her own experiences with love. "..No woman can stand to choose between her baby
and her lover...I made the woman I loved choose," Raylene says, trying to
convince Bone that in time, she must forgive Anney for staying with Glen (300). Raylene
teaches Bone unique lessons about growing into a woman; how to be strong and how
to fend for herself. Her qualities also make her a foil of author
Dorothy Allison, as she represents many traits the
author claims as important in her own character.
Reese
(by Kerry)
Reese is Bone’s younger sister and the daughter of Lyle
Parsons, Anney’s first husband who died in a car accident shortly
after Reese’s
birth. Bone is jealous of Reese for knowing where she came from. Bone tells the
reader, “She had another family, another side of her family to think about…Reese
could choose something altogether different for herself and be
someone else
altogether” (Allison 59). Conversely, Bone is unsure of where her physical
appearance comes from, only being able to pick out the Boatwright
characteristics in her appearance. Later, Bone has even more reason to be
jealous of Reese. When Daddy Glen becomes a part of their family, he focuses his
anger on Bone. Bone’s designation as the scapegoat in the family distances the
two sisters. Though Bone worries about Reese’s own interactions with Daddy Glen
(she is aware of her sister’s masturbatory habits), her own traumatic
experiences remain the focal point on the novel and Reese stays a minor
character. (photos
http://www.upstate.edu/peds/care/)
Ruth (by Kevin)
Bone’s aunt, Annie’s sister. All the aunts moved frequently, Ruth liked houses with black walnut trees to shade the pickup trucks for her husband. (79) Married to Travis, she gets sick and Bone goes to stay with her (120). It is at Ruth’s house (I think) that Daddy Glen beats her and gets caught by Annie. Bone is torn by whether or not she should tell Aunt Ruth that Daddy Glen sexually abuses her (124). Ruth teaches Bone her family history, devoting two days to it (126). Bone is introduced to gospel music through Aunt Ruth (136).
Shannon Pearl (by Robyn)
Shannon Pearl, the albino daughter of a
Christian bookstore owner and a gospel singer booker, shows up in Bone's life
just as she is contemplating her own religious
conviction. For battered Bone, gospel music
became an escape, so a friendship with Shannon allowed Bone to
get
closer to this dream world. Because Shannon is a chubby, pale and quiet child,
she is subject to very cruel teasing by her peers. Bone becomes fiercely
protective of Shannon, which likely results from the fact that as an abused
child, Bone wants the chance to be strong. Yet, at the same time, Bone often
taunts and teases Shannon, which also probably results from her own
abuse. As Glen physically abused Bone, she
turns and emotionally abuses Shannon. Her meanness, however, also stems from her
jealously of Shannon's loving family. Shannon's mother
and father dote on her, while Bone is beaten by her stepfather and feels ignored
and betrayed by her mother. Watching Shannon cuddling her mom, Bone in consumed
with envy. "It was a lesson in the power of love. Looking back at me from
between her mother's legs, Shannon was a wholly monstrous, a lurching, hunched
creature shining with sweat and smug satisfaction," she thi
nks
(Allison 155). But despite this jealously, Shannon and Bone both desperately
need each other for support against the other people who hurt them. When a
gospel singer calls Shannon "the ugliest thing" he has ever seen, Bone supports
Shannon in her feelings of anger. "If there was
justice, then Shannon and I
would make them all burn," she thinks, hoping to get back at all the people who
have made fun of Shannon or beaten her (Allison 166). But, in the end, the only
one who burns is Shannon. When the pain of life becomes too much for her, she
sets herself ablaze at a picnic, while Bone, by some source of strength, is able
to go on fighting. (photos from
www.knowlton.clara.net and
Hernandez)