The
Dry Grass of August is a very good book and I would read it
again. It takes place in 1954 when Jubie's family leaves Charlotte,
North Carolina to go on a vacation to see her uncle in Florida taking
along the black maid, Mary. It is beautifully written with many
dimensions. While it is a coming-of-age story for Jubie, it is also a
commentary of the upper middle classes in conflict, and the dawning
age of civil rights. Jubie's father fights alcoholism, her mother
suffers under his oppression and her own unrest.
At some
time in everyone's life there comes an awareness of wrinkles in the
fabric of social life. It was 1957 for me. The second grade was
exciting, fun, interesting, and kids were inviting each other to
parties where we were beginning to learn that all families were a
little different. At dinner one evening I announced to my family that
I had a boyfriend, Curtis. He was so funny, and kind. He spoke softly
and always picked up my pencil or book if I dropped it. He had a
wonderful smile and all the other kids appeared to like him. Silence
filled our warm kitchen. Finally my oldest brother said, “Curtis
cannot be your boyfriend, he's a negro and you are not.” My family
went on chatting and eating while I considered that a bit but not for
too long. I do remember thinking, “Oh, ok, well then I guess I will
like Mark.” Today I ponder why children accept those things so
easily. That memory surfaced while reading The Dray Grass
because I could relate to thirteen year old Jubie's innocence about
matters of race and violence in the 50s, and her infatuation with the
black boy, Leesum whom she meets in Florida.
Jubie
had Mary all her life, she loves her unconditionally and Mary loves
her. Jubie never entertains ideas of other people's lives being any
different or others seeing things other than the way she does. So as
the family traverses south and she sees more and more signs of
segregation and racism she is bothered by it but doesn't take it as
seriously as she should. When real tragedy happens she is ill
equipped to handle it. The adults in the book seem to me to be real
and accurate portraits of the 1950s. Jubie's mother, Paula, while
loving her family she is detached from their everyday lives, she is
dissatisfied and suspects her husband of infidelity. The town they
live in is also changing and Jubie herself is growing up.
Mary has
always been more than a maid to the family, she has been cook, nurse,
and mother stand-in. Some say that the author by portraying her so
subservient, dismissive, and not able to make eye contact with white
people, makes her not a believable character when reader knows Mary
is intelligent, loving, and principled. History tells us that is the
way black maids operated at that time during the Jim Crow laws. To
make her other than that, for us who remember would be the untruth.
When the
family finally does fall apart, Jubie must face the flaws in her
parents, the limitations of what she can and cannot do, and the
injustice of her world, as we all do. She is a great protagonist to
live with for a whole novel and she is full of love and courage.
While you know that there may be hope for her flawed parents to learn
and rebuild, you want to go with Jubie into her uncertain future so I
am hoping for another novel from Mayhew taking Jubie into adulthood.
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