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Bastard Out of Carolina | Introduction

In her discussion of Dorothy Allison's literary career in Feminist Writers, Deborah T. Meem writes, "For Allison, writing is a dramatic, life-affirming act in a world which consistently threatens death. A storyteller since childhood, Allison chronicles her discovery how … writing them [her most terrible stories] down gives her power of the experiences." Dorothy Allison has never been shy about the autobiographical background of her powerful first novel, Bastard Out of Carolina. Allison was born to a poor, "white trash" Southern family. Her stepfather sexually abused her for six years, starting when she was only five years old, and her mother, whom Allison deeply loved, was unable or unwilling to deal with this issue. Bastard Out of Carolina is not Allison's first important piece of writing, but for many readers, it remains her truest.

Allison recounts the story of Ruth Anne "Bone" Boatwright, the illegitimate daughter of a fifteen-year-old unmarried, uneducated waitress. Bone's mother, a child herself, desperately seeks love and familial stability, which she has never experienced in her own large, unorthodox brood of kin. Anney's need for love is so strong that she turns a blind eye to the abuse—physical, emotional, and sexual—that her second husband, Daddy Glen, heaps upon her young daughter. Before even reaching the age of thirteen, Bone has experienced a life's supply of disappointment, bitterness, self-hatred, and even hatred for her mother. If Bastard Out of Carolina sharply affects many readers because of the swell of truth behind the characters and their actions, that is partially Allison's intention. For Allison once explained what storytelling meant to her in an interview she gave to Alexis Jetter of the New York Times Magazine: "I believe that story-telling can be a strategy to help you make sense of your life. It's what I've done."

Bastard Out of Carolina Summary

At fifteen years old, Anney Boatwright gives birth to her first baby out of wedlock. The child comes to be called Bone. Anney stubbornly tries to legitimize her child. She tries several years in a row to get a birth certificate that is not marked with the word "illegitimate." When Anney is seventeen, she marries a man who wants to be a good father to her child. Her first husband dies shortly thereafter, however, leaving her with yet another daughter, Reese, to care for. Anney comes from a large family, most of whom live in Greenville, South Carolina, and the family relies on each other for money, help, and comfort.

Through her brother Earle, Anney meets Glen Waddell. Glen promises to love and take care of her girls, which wins him Anney's love. Two years later, they marry. Glen, however, is a failure. He comes from a middle-class family but cannot hold a job. He is filled with rage against his own family, who make their dislike of him apparent, and he takes out his frustrations and anger on Bone. He first sexually abuses her less than a year after the marriage, masturbating against her while his wife gives birth to their stillborn baby.

As Glen finds it increasingly impossible to hold a job, the family moves constantly, and Bone and Reese are always hungry. One night Anney prostitutes herself to get money to buy her children food. When Bone is ten, Daddy Glen starts viciously and methodically beating her. He puts aside several belts, which he keeps well-oiled, for this purpose. The family witnesses the first of his savage beatings. Anney gets angry at Glen but forgives him. Bone quickly realizes that she must be careful around Glen to not invoke his rage. At times, however, she cannot keep herself from "sassing back." In reality, there is nothing Bone can do to prevent the beatings. Anney insists on deluding herself that Bone is simply "prone to accident," and gets furious when an intern at the hospital raises the specter of child abuse. She begs Bone to "be more careful" around Glen.

Around this time or perhaps even earlier, Glen's sexual abuse of Bone becomes a more regular practice. Bone tells no one what he is doing to her because she is ashamed and afraid of making him angry. She also has begun to masturbate, and her sexual fantasies center on violent scenarios. She imagines that a crowd of people watch as Glen beats her, but that she is defiant and unyielding. She feels great shame over these fantasies but does not stop them.

After a bad beating, Anney takes her children to Alma's, but two weeks later, they return home. Glen promises never to hurt Bone again, but she knows that he won't really change. Bone and Reese go over to Alma's after school, and Anney comes there to pick them up on her way home from work. Bone tells violent stories to her cousins, filled with rapes and murders. The family notices that she has changed, that her face is "scary," and that she is "almost mean-hearted." Bone starts going to the diner with Anney. She earns money washing dishes and spends most of it buying used books.

That summer, Bone goes to stay with and help out Aunt Ruth and Uncle Travis. Aunt Ruth has a debilitating illness, and she has grown weaker. Bone realizes that Ruth is dying. Bone tells Ruth that Daddy Glen hates her, and Ruth agrees, noting that Glen is jealous of her and wants Anney all to himself. She asks Bone if Glen has ever sexually abused her, but Bone lies and says no. She does admit that he scares her, however. While Bone is at Ruth's, Glen gets a new job, and according to Anney, is "good as gold with Reese," but he never mentions Bone; it's as if she no longer exists.... » Complete Bastard Out of Carolina Summary