49 pages • 1 hour read
Diane ChamberlainA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of forced sterilization, racism, violence, suicide, and sexual trauma.
The novel’s title puts forth the position held by Charlotte and the other social workers: that it is in the best interest of women and girls to sterilize them without telling them. Jane disagrees. What evidence from the novel supports either Charlotte’s or Jane’s viewpoint regarding these “necessary lies”? How do the experiences of Ivy, Mary Ella, and Lita contribute to the contrasting perspectives on this issue?
The novel presents several examples of mothers, including Mary Ella, Lita, Lois, Nonnie, and Jane’s mother. How does the portrayal of motherhood in the novel contribute to its thematic exploration of Gender Norms in Mid-20th-Century America and Personal Agency and Autonomy?
By Diane Chamberlain
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