Bastard Out of Carolina
Dorothy Allison
Plot Overview
Dorothy Allison writes a story about a girl and her mother. The girl stole some candy from a shop down the road and her mother caught her in the act. The girl remembers a time her mother lectured her never to steal, telling the story of her cousin and how he stole and the feelings of stealing. The girl and her mom then get into the car to go return the candy. The mother tells the story about her mom checking her. She worked at a strawberry farm, and would sometimes pick the green, which she then hid at the bottom of the basket. Her mom found out paid the owner and made them eat the green berries. They get to the shop walk in and after some prodding she told the sales person she sold the candy and gave her the money and extra candy. The manager then gets involved, punishes the kid and says he is not allowed back in the shop until her mom comes back and says she learned her lesson. But mama got mad and they never came back, every time they went by they still were both angered.
Theme
Justice, "a just behavior or treatment; the quality of being fair and reasonable; a judge or magistrate, in particular a judge of the supreme court of a country or state." The mother made the little girl do all of this. She gave justice to the shop and the people.
"It was a hunger in the back of the throat, not the belly, an echoing emptiness that ached for the release of screaming."
Characters
Mama
She is the mother of Honey. She has patience but can sometimes be strict. She has her values and sticks to them. She doesn't want her daughter to make the same mistakes. She tries her hardest to support her family and give them a good life. I think she is a really good mom with good values.
Honey
She is a girl and her mom is mama, the story doesn't say her real name this is what the shop owner calls her. She wants to be good but also wants what the other kids have. She starts to question herself in the story. Thinking about the feelings of taking the candy and comparing herself to her cousin. She is a great person but is a young girl finding herself.
Major Conflict
When the manager but into the conversation and gives his own punishment. He is not the mother, he is just some random guy why does he get to punish another persons kid. "'What we're gonna do,' he announced, 'is say you can't come back in here for a while. We'll say that when your mama thinks you've learned your lesson, she can come back and talk o me. But till then, we're gonna remember your name, what you look like.' He leaned down again. 'You understand me, honey?'" This is when the major conflict happens, after this happens the mother is on nerve and does not like the manager. This is why I think it s the major conflict.
Literary Divices
The story about Cousin Grey and how he was caught running out of the White Horse Winn Dixie. They story about Mama and how her and her friend picked and sold the green underneath the red berries. I would call both of these events foreshadowing. Cousin Grey and Mama did something bad and Honey did something bad. You could see it coming from what others did in the past.
Recomedation
I would recommend this to anyone who likes a story. If you stole anything, if you want to hear about others pain and what they have been through. This book is for people who think and examine about what they read.