Independent Text Project by Audra Cormack
Book: Lucinda's Mountain
Author: Adda Leah Davis
Category: Young Adult Fiction
Publication: Charleston, WV: Mountain
State Press (2007)
Synopsis:
Lucinda Harmon is a young woman from
Bradshaw Mountain in McDowell County, West Virginia who understands feminism
and the power of education in a family and community who do not. While all women around her are tied to their
land and men by constant childbearing, backbreaking physical labor, and a lack
of education and opportunities, Lucinda has always wanted more. She is torn between a love for her home and a
sense of duty toward her family and the dream of a future in which she could be
free of domination, dependence, and discrimination of both her gender and her rural Appalachian upbringing and identity.
Portrayed as very
pretty and innocent, Lucinda is romantically pursued by several men, two of
which play huge roles in her life. Jason
McCall, a young, city doctor, is her first but eventually unrequited love and
is an inspiration for the pursuit of knowledge and independence within
Lucinda. Jason proves to also be a
stumbling block for her, however, as she never fully heals from his abrupt and
mysterious disappearance.
During this
time, Lucinda is allowed to go away to college and works toward getting her
degree in education. When her father is
injured in a logging accident, Lucinda puts her degree on hold to support her
family, coming back to Bradshaw Mountain to provisionally teach in a rural
school. At a fundraising benefit for the
school, Lucinda meets Jeff Marshall, a coalmine worker and union man, who
pursues her relentlessly. Though Lucinda
is still in love with Jason and reluctant to date Jeff, her family and friends
sway her to accept Jeff’s offer – first of courtship and eventually of
marriage. Jeff loves Lucinda and, in
comparison to her upbringing, is modestly wealthy, but he is aggressive, extremely
jealous, and controlling.
Following
Lucinda’s somewhat resented wedding, she becomes pregnant and is again coerced
by family and friends to give up her dreams of finishing her education and
working as a teacher on the mountain and to instead follow Jeff to move away –
from her potential independence, from the possible threat of a returned Jason,
and even from the support she has recently found in her local church congregation.
The novel ends
with a bittersweet uncertainty of whether Lucinda has managed to discover
fulfillment in this new life or simply an inner strength and faith to endure
the hardships her future holds. She
gives herself and leaves her readers with a call-to-action. Lucinda, like her beloved McDowell County,
has been stripped of her rights, but she believes it is possible to still have
the power of choice in how one bears those burdens.
Review:
Main Characters: Lucinda Harmon
Family Loves Friends/Helpers Abusers
Nancy Harmon Dr. Jason McCall Dora Mullins Mrs. Marshall
Burb Harmon Jeff Marshall James Estep Ms. Wilson
Gordon and Emily Preacher Hiram
Odell
Themes:
Education Feminism Innocence Sexual naiveté Family
Tradition Coal/Unions Gender roles Independence Home
Brain Drain Stereotypes Religion Insider/Outsider Class
Matriarchy Politics Isolation Social values Death
Anorexia Honor Male
dominance Domesticity
Unrequited and
possessive love Appalachian exceptionalism Sexual harassment “Homespun philosophy” (51)
Themes with Accompanying Text Excerpts
Worldly Awareness and Anti-isolationism
“Many of Burb’s
friends often stopped to visit and they had long discussions about the coal
companies, the unions, politics, or any thing else touching on life as they
knew it…most people realized that the railroad had exposed these mountain areas
to a broader world” (12).
Coal and Class
“There were many
discussions in Harvey Morgan’s civic classes about coal mines and their owners…the
companies built all the houses and opined that keeping the classes separated
seemed to be a top priority from the company perspective” (14). “Jack Perkins, onf of Lucinda’s classmates
said, “…They don’t dirty their hands with the actual work in the mines or in
the maintenance of the camps either”” (14-15).
Lucinda’s Naiveté and Childbirth on the
Mountain
“Constantly,
Lucinda thought about ways of getting away from the top of the mountain. No midwife would ever deliver a child for
her…She would have liked to talk to her mother or somebody about things like
that but Nancy never ever talked about anything personal with her. Lucinda was not even allowed around the cow
when she was calving, and therefore knew nothing about that part of life” (21).
Fear Tactics
“She was tempted
to accept a ride, but Mommy had warned her to never ride with strangers,
handsome or not. Nancy scared her girls
half to death with her tales of rape and mayhem without giving any of the
details. The only thing Lucinda really
knew was that, according to Nancy, filthy, nasty things were done to girls by
strange men if they got the chance” (23-4).
Discrimination and Education
““I am so tired
of feeling like a little old backwoods hillbilly who knows nothing about the
world,” explained Lucinda. “When I was
in high school…even some of the teachers treated the mountain kids like they
were dummies…I always thought that the teachers treated town kids special
because they dressed nice and could be in all kinds of activities…All I need is
a chance and getting to go to college is the best chance I’ll ever get”” (71).
“Nobody at
college would know anything about her background and she wasn’t going to tell
them. It wasn’t that she was ashamed of
her people or where she was from but people made assumptions when you told them
you were from Bradshaw or Bradshaw Mountain.
She always heard, “Bradshaw! I
hear they have a killing there every Saturday night,” and, “How many beer
joints did you say Bradshaw had?”” (73).
Feminism, Education, and Inadequacy
“Even at an
early age Lucinda wondered why she hungered to know so much. Odell, Oprey, Faye, and Ellen never talked
about books, school, or wanting to know.
It wasn’t that they couldn’t read or were not smart because they
were. They had wisdom about life that
seemed to elude Lucinda…She couldn’t do anything like her sisters, and felt so
inadequate. She wondered if that
childhood feeling of inadequacy had led to this feeling of never being able to
measure up or be as good as her sisters when she grew up” (73).
Home, Brain Drain, and Identity
““Ever since I
started high school and realized that there was a better life away from these
mountains, I’ve wanted to leave. All I
could think of was how to get away and not end up like Mommy and my sisters,
but now I realize that I really love this place…it’s home and I feel safe here
with all the people I love. It’s kind of
like the hills are a shelter or a calm place where you know what is going to
happen next”” (86).
Innocence, Power, and Agency
“Like her
beloved innocent McDowell County, she too was young and innocent and had so
much to learn. Somehow, she, like the
county, had to learn who really cared for her and who was using her to get what
they wanted. She had thought that living
on Bradshaw Mountain caused all the problems women had, but now she saw the
true mountain. This mountain she now
faced was going to be much more difficult to scale. Somehow she had to learn to make wise decisions
for herself and stand by them regardless of pressure from others. She had to learn to be like the mountain oak
tree that bent before any wind but didn’t break. She had to gain the confidence to believe
that she could conquer any mountain, no matter how difficult” (312-13).
“Lucinda looked
back with longing as they pulled away from her childhood home. It won’t look the same, if I ever get to come
back, thought Lucinda. McDowell County
is also allowing others to decide its future, mused Lucinda. The county is the “billion dollar coalfield”
and yet where is the money going” (314).
““You have to
stand whatever comes along, Cindy, but it’s up to you how you want to stand
it,” her grandpa’s voice came unbidden into her tired and weary head” (314).
Strengths and Limitations:
The major
strengths of Lucinda’s Mountain are
its obvious spectrum of themes and tensions, its well-developed and relatable
characters, and its incredible support of education. Along with being a writer, Adda Leah Davis is
a McDowell County, West Virginia native and a retired schoolteacher and
counselor. This history gives her writing
depth in its descriptions of the environment and relationships highlighted in
the novel. In particular, Davis’
depiction of Lucinda’s roles as a schoolteacher and mentor to her students is
beautiful. This is where Davis’ writing
truly shines and brings Lucinda’s story to life. From the interactions of the students with
barely-of-age Lucinda, to classroom and playground drama, to fundraiser “box
suppers” and “pretty girl/ugly man contests,” the portrayal of school as the
heart of Lucinda’s life and, (in many cases), the heart of the community is, in
my opinion, the strongest and most impacting aspect of Lucinda’s Mountain.
The limitations
of the novel for a secondary ELA classroom include its focus on sexual tensions
and some instances of underdeveloped writing style. Lucinda is consistently objectified by men
throughout the entire novel. In some
cases, she is even objectified and manipulated by women. Continually pursued by men, she is first
sexually molested and harassed by Mr. Wilson, her initial employer. Following this she is harassed and challenged
by both of her love interests, and car scenes depicting her struggles with
these men are numerous. Lucinda’s sexual
naiveté is a common theme throughout the novel, as well, and the men who harass
her frequently belittle and berate her for it.
While she is encouraged by her husband to find a husband and marry, she
is also kept entirely ignorant of sexual education and is warned by them to
avoid any intimate situations, at the very cost of her honor and safety and the
name of her family. These topics could
be extremely useful for careful discussion in the classroom, but they might
elicit negative responses from parents and/or trigger emotional reactions from
students.
Writing Style and Inspiration:
The writing
style of Lucinda’s Mountain is fairly
straightforward and quotation-heavy. These
characteristics make the novel a fast read.
The sentences are not overly complicated, but the issues presented are
so numerous and varying that content complexity is not lost. This makes the reading level of the novel suitable
for a wide range of students, at least in reading proficiency levels. High school ninth and tenth graders would
easily be able to comprehend and discuss the book, but, due to the frequent
scenes of sexual harassment, (albeit not exceedingly explicit in language), the
novel might be better suited for eleventh and twelfth graders.
The dialogue
used within the novel does present differences in dialect, and Adda Leah Davis
makes a significant difference between the dialects of rural and urban
dwellers, along with the educational exposure levels of the various
characters. Davis does seem to account
for the spectrum of dialects and does not simply make generalizations of
dialect usage or dichotomy
Utilizing the
novel to inspire students in their writing and education in general would
certainly be an easy task. One teaching
technique would be to reveal the author’s use of her own life experiences to
compose her text. As teachers, we could
ask our students to compose their own fictional stories, based upon their own life experiences. This activity would not only teach our
students the difference between fiction and nonfiction, but it might also
inspire them to utilize all of their experiences – even those that are
potentially painful for them – to create, to produce, to show them the power of
their own words, and, perhaps, to engage with hardships or difficult memories
for positive action, preparing them for journeys toward brighter futures.
Potential Companion Texts
In the
introduction to Lucinda’s Mountain, President Jerry Beasely of Concord
University suggests two novels that might fit within the book’s theme of rural
education:
- · The Thread that Runs So True by Jesse Stuart
- · Hoosier Schoolmaster by Edward Eggleston
Adda Leah Davis
herself might suggest the additional three books she has now written in this
series about McDowell County. Lucinda’s Mountain is the first of the
four, and, amongst the slew of aforementioned topics, this novel mainly
spotlights the “insider” half of insider/outsider perspectives. Below is a continued list of the remaining
novels of Davis’ series, along with their main themes:
- · Jason’s Journey – Outsider perspective
- · The Beckoning Hills – Synthesis of insider/outsider perspectives
- · Farther Along – Faith and reconciliation
As I was reading
Lucinda’s Mountain, a few other
literary texts came to my mind as having potentially shared themes or tensions
with Davis’ text. They range in time
period, genre, and medium of literature, and I have listed that inclusive
information below:
- · Little Women by Louisa May Alcott – Feminism, gender roles, steadfast heroine, education, class, gender; novel
- · Charlotte Temple by Susanna Rowson – Male domination, child-bearing, female oppression, morality, naiveté; novel
- · “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway – Sexual tension, control, choice, manipulation, relationship, realism, acceptance; short story
- · “I cannot live with you” by Emily Dickinson – Unrequited love, home, domesticity, death; poem
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