The Member of the Wedding [Mass Market Paperback]

 

 

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It's August 1944, and Frankie (Frances) Addams is a twelve-year-old girl living in the American south. Frankie is frustrated and bored, she feels like she no longer belongs. `This was the summer when for a long time she had not been a member.' Frankie's best friend, Evelyn Owen, left town before summer began, and most of the other girls are already thirteen and won't allow her to be a member of their club. The novel opens in the kitchen of Frankie's home, with Frankie, Berenice Sadie Brown (the family maid) and John Henry West (her six year old first cousin) present. The novel is divided into three parts, with each part marking different steps in Frankie's transition from childhood.

In Part 1, news that Frankie's older brother Jarvis is to marry provides Frankie with a new focus. After seeing Jarvis with his fiancée Janice, she decides to become a member of the wedding, and thinks: `They are the we of me.' She can think of little else other than her plan to be with them after the wedding: leaving the past behind.

It's the day before the wedding, and Part 2, begins with Frankie walking around town on her way to buy a new dress. She has adopted a new name: F. Jasmine Addams and meets a number of different people on her journey, including an organ grinder and his monkey, and a soldier who treats her as though she is older, and asks her to meet him later to go dancing. Frankie (or F. Jasmine) learns about Berenice's life, and later experiences fear when she meets up with the soldier.

On the day of the wedding, at the beginning of Part 3, Frankie is now Frances. The wedding takes place, events do not develop as Frankie (or Frances) wished, and she is humiliated. Frances decides to leave home. She writes a note for her father takes his pistol and wallet, and her suitcase and leaves the house. Not knowing where else to go, she goes to the Blue Moon Café where, soon after, the sheriff finds her and takes her home.

`Frances was never once to speak about the wedding.'

This statement marks the beginning of novel's conclusion. It is now three months after the wedding and Frances has turned thirteen. She has a new friend: Mary Littlejohn, and her life has changed in other ways as well. Not all of the changes are positive, but Frances is overjoyed to have a new girlfriend. Life continues, and for Frances, at least, there is something to look forward to.

I enjoyed this novel and admired the way in which Ms McCullers brought Frankie and her fears to life. In fewer than 170 pages, Ms McCullers has encapsulated the nature of adolescence for so many: that painful and uncomfortable sense of not belonging and of having no place. As Frankie evolves, becomes F. Jasmine and then Frances, searching for her own sense of self, older readers will recognise the pain of past transition while younger readers, perhaps, are still experiencing it. Frankie is the central character in this novel, but hers is not the only life being lived and Berenice and John Henry are also finely drawn.

I've not previously read any of Ms McCullers work, and read this novel as part of a reading group. I'll be looking to read other books as the opportunity arises.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

This is a book about Frankie Adams, a twelve year old girl coming of age in the South during World War II. We see her world through her eyes, so that the reader gets a skewed version of the world around Frankie. Clearly all is not right with her, as her brother is getting married and Frankie thinks that she will be going off with her brother and his bride. Frankie spins a total fantasy around this concept. She does not think that two is company and three is a crowd.

Why does she do this? There are many reasons. Some of them are rather dark. Frankie's mother died giving birth to her. Her father has remained a widower, letting Frankie sleep in the same bed with him until she was about twelve, when he finally gave her the boot. Her best friend is her six year old first cousin, John Henry. He likes to sleep over, and when he does, he sleeps in the bed with Frankie. She caresses him when he sleeps, and even takes to licking him behind his ear while he slumbers. She also has apparently had a sexual encounter of some kind with a neighborhood boy, an incident about which she will not speak. The author weaves these details into the story, glossing over them, leaving the reader feeling shocked. This feeling is exacerbated by the almost casual interjection of these details.

There is so much emotional trauma in Frankie's life that it is amazing she can function at all. Also distressing to Frankie is the fact that she is isolated from children her own age. The neighborhood girls, who are just a little older than her and whom Frankie envies, shun her. Her father pretty much ignores her, leaving her upbringing to the housekeeper, Bernice. When it comes time to buy her a dress for her brother's wedding, she is sent off to buy the dress by herself. It is little wonder that the dress she ends up purchasing is totally unsuitable. Her feeling of isolation is palpable to the reader.

Although Frankie is somewhat of a tomboy, she likes getting dressed up, slathering on lipstick, and taking a walk through the town, calling herself F. Jasmine, looking older than her years. In this guise, she meets a soldier, who takes her for being much older. It comes as no surprise when it all goes horribly wrong. Yet, Frankie is evidently a survivor and manages to fend for herself.

The moment of truth for Frankie arrives when her brother's wedding finally takes place, but by then that event is almost anti-climactic, as events continue to buffet Frankie, leaving her more isolated that ever before. Still, she continues on, not seeming to have learned anything all from her experiences, an emotionally troubled child suffering a severe disconnection from the world.

This is a thematically complex story told through the jagged fragments of the life of a young girl, one who views the world in a disjointed, unrealistic way, her world view clouded by inner demons that are never given a voice. It is a story that is dark and melancholic, leaving the reader to ponder upon a life so young, yet so despairing.

Twelve-year-old Frankie is fed up with her small town life where the only things that change are for the worse. Then one day, her brother announces he is getting married and the next two weeks take Frankie on a whirlwind as she becomes obsessed with the wedding and the new life she could have if her brother and his wife would only take her with them. This coming of age story was beautifully written. I was drawn into McCuller's world, smelling the smells and feeling the heat. Even though this is such a short book, it was a slow, leisurely read. I found myself stopping and savouring the scenes before I could start to read again. This book leaves me with a wistful, melancholy feeling. This is my second McCuller's book and I rather enjoy her not-so-happy endings. Recommended

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5.0 out of 5 stars A Novel That Reads Like a Play
I have read some of the other critiques of this novel, and it seems like people do not take into account the fact that this story takes place during WWII in a very small town and... Read more

Published on Jun 25 2004 by Jack M. Walter

4.0 out of 5 stars bittersweet coming-of-age
I understand the cultural setting of this novel doesn't translate well into the 21st century, but it seems that perhaps many of the "reviewers" do not grasp the... Read more

Published on April 28 2004 by M. J Gehrking

2.0 out of 5 stars a membership of one
My husband read _The Member of the Wedding_ in school but it was never part of any of my Lit classes; I only read it now for the first time. Read more

Published on Feb 22 2004 by Elizabeth Roberts-Zibbel

1.0 out of 5 stars Boring
I read it Sophomore Year of High School, and I was bored to tears. This novel is just plain old stupid. It is infact, painful to read. Read more

Published on Sep 6 2003 by A Music Fan

1.0 out of 5 stars Horrible Book
This book is simply terrible. I had to read it for summer reading, but this book is simply awful. It's now collecting dust upon my bookshelf, where it shall remain for quite some... Read more

Published on Aug 27 2003

4.0 out of 5 stars The Member of the Wedding!
Frankie Adams, a 12 years old boyish girl, who is always left alone because she does not match with anyone. Read more

Published on Aug 21 2003 by Priyanka

4.0 out of 5 stars Not McCuller's very best, but close
Classic coming of age piece with a twist: the main character, Frankie Adams puts a new spin on the term 'quirky. Read more

Published on April 19 2003 by Peggy Vincent

1.0 out of 5 stars Member of the Misfit Books
The character wishes she could kill her self, and in truth, I wish she had. She hates the world and hates herself. Read more

Published on Nov 12 2002

3.0 out of 5 stars Psychotic main character, excellent writing
I suppose I would have enjoyed this book much more if the main character was somewhat more rational (read: believable). Read more

Published on Aug 10 2002 by Matthew Gunia

5.0 out of 5 stars A magnificent work of art
Carson McCullers is a writer of such exquisite sensitivity and humane compassion, and all these qualities shine through every page of this wonderful work. Read more

Published on Feb 4 2002 by Dave Godin

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