Masaryk University

MASARYK UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF EDUCATION Bachelor's Diploma Thesis Brno 2015 Veronika Soldánová Masaryk University Faculty of Education Department of English Language and Literature On the Issue of Abortions in John Irving's The Cider House Rules in the Context of American Society Bachelor's Diploma Thesis 2015 Supervisor: Written by: Mgr. Lucie Podroužková, Ph.D. Veronika Soldánová Anotace Bakalářská práce se zabývá tématikou potratů v knize Johna Irvinga Pravidla moštárny z pohledu americké společnosti. Rozebírá jednotlivé postavy novely, klade důraz na jejich vztahy k tématice interrupce a rozebírá je na pozadí americké kultury. Cílem této závěrečné práce je poukázat na fakt, že John Irving využívá jak mužské, tak ženské postavy k reprezentaci doby kdy byly potraty ve Spojených Státech Amerických ilegální; každá postava reprezentuje jinou stránku problému rozebíraného v této knize. Cílem bylo také ukázat, že kniha jako celek má i dnes svoje využití při řešení problematiky potratů. Abstract The bachelor thesis deals with the issue of abortions in John Irving's The Cider House Rules in the context of American society. It analyses individual novel characters, emphasises their attitudes on the topic of abortions and examines these attitudes on the background of American culture. The aim of the work is to point to the fact that John Irving uses both male and female characters to represent a time period in which abortions in the United States of America were illegal; every single character represents a different point of view of the issue analysed in the book. The objective was also to show that the book has its utilization even when dealing with the issue of abortions in the society of nowadays. Klíčová slova John Irving, Pravidla moštárny, Americká kultura, Potraty, Interrupce, Těhotenství, Ženy, Homosexualita, Znásilnění, Incest, Sirotek, Zdraví, Lékař Key words John Irving, The Cider House Rules, American Culture, Abortions, Pregnancy, Women, Homosexuality, Rape, Incest, Orphan, Health, Physician, Pro-choice, Pro-life Declaration: Hereby, I declare that I have compiled this thesis on my own and all the sources of information used in the thesis are listed in the references. Brno, March 30, 2015 . Veronika Soldánová Acknowledgement I would like to express my thanks to my supervisor Mgr. Lucie Podroužková, Ph.D. for her helpful and patient guidance, support and professional advice. Table of Contents 1 Introduction............................................................................................................................7 2 Chapter I – Abortions in American Society.........................................................................10 2.1 19th Century: History of Abortions v. History of Larch..............................................10 2.2 20th Century: Pro-choice and Pro-life..........................................................................15 2.3 21th Century: The Impact on Women..........................................................................21 3 Chapter II – The Cider House Rules: Different Points of View...........................................26 3.1 The Lord's Work and the Devil's Work.........................................................................26 3.2 Decision-making..........................................................................................................29 3.2.1 Like Mother, Like Daughter: Mrs and Ms Eames................................................30 3.2.2 The Importance of Having a Partner: Candy Kendall..........................................33 3.2.3 No Rose Without a Thorn: Rose Rose..................................................................37 3.2.4 The Troublemaker: Melony..................................................................................39 4 Conclusion...........................................................................................................................43 5 Bibliography.........................................................................................................................46 5.1 Works Cited..................................................................................................................46 5.2 Works Consulted..........................................................................................................50 1 Introduction The main objective of the thesis is to clarify the issue of abortions as illustrated in John Irving's book The Cider House Rules in the wider context of American society. The aim is to access to what extent the novel documents attitudes of American society of the nineteenth, twenty and twenty-first century and corresponds with the history of the issue of abortions in United States by combining the textual analysis of the novel with sociological and historical data. Both male and female characters are taken into consideration as they are being used as an image of American society in the novel. The claim of the thesis is to evaluate how their lives and experiences mirror the real lives of American women and their families. John Irving is a contemporary American author born in 1942 in New Hampshire. He is a man of strict ideas and opinions which play a significant role in lives of his characters and are represented in all of his novels. He is a writer dealing with controversial issues such as abortions, homosexuality and incest. Apart from The Cider House Rules which deals with abortions, other tabooed topics such as gay rights, feminism and also rape are covered in the book as well as in other novels of his such as The World According To Garp, In One Person and A Prayer For Owen Meany. Irving considers abortions and rape the worst crimes against women. During an interview with Ron Hansen he says that “if men could get pregnant, don't imagine for a moment that anyone would be complaining about legalized abortion” (qtd. in Hansen). He uses these thoughts in his stories so that readers can experience some of the crucial situations along with the characters. He lifts his intentions on a different level and provides experiences that give the readers sense of understanding and comprehension. When giving interviews John Irving reveals other details about his characters and the process behind his work. Since he considers The Cider House Rules to be a historical novel he says that “[he] had to learn so much before [he] could begin [The Cider House Rules]; [he] had to gather so much information, take so many notes, see, witness, observe, study – whatever – that when [he] finally was able to begin writing, [he] knew everything that was going to happen, in advance” (gtd. in Hansen). Discussions about the issue of abortions in both John Irving's The Cider House Rules novel, which was first published in 1985, and the film adaptation released in 1999 have been made by people since the book and the film were first released. Especially nowadays when technology and internet provides many possibilities for readers and viewers to have 7 conversations about the story, people have space to share their ideas and stories about the influence that The Cider House Rules have had on them. As Dr Larch would say, The Cider House Rules has been of use. RoseAnn, one of the readers, admits on one of the internet forums that the novel helped her form her own independent opinion on the issue of abortions. She says that “stories like Cider House Rules, both fiction and non-fiction, opened [her] eyes to the historical significance of a women's individual right to choose whether or no to continue a pregnancy” (“The Cider House Rules Question”). By this she confirms that it is important to consider all the facts before judging someone's decision which is something that books like The Cider House Rules provide. The historical background of the novel is also very important as RoseAnn mentions. It gives the readers the necessary knowledge about the issue from the perspective of American society. The impact that John Irving's work has had on people is massive; though, not always positive. According to an article in the Idependent magazine from 1992, The Cider House Rules was one of the books which were banned at the Johnstone High School in Renfrewshire for being 'obscene'. One of the teachers said that “'it is not a question of censorship. It is just a question of selecting what is appropriate for children'” (Macleod). Themes that are being talked through in The Cider House Rules – not only abortions but also prostitution, rape and masturbation – are controversial. But Irving applies them on the life of his characters which is the crucial point. The Cider House Rules is not an encyclopedia describing what abortion, prostitution, rape and masturbation means, it is a novel with heroes that are very close to teenagers for their age. Benjamin DeMott in his review for New York Times says that “the book is, to be sure, a novel (the author's sixth), not a tract; it follows several human lives from youth to maturity, gripping our attention as chronicle rather than argument”. The part of his review focusing on the fact that the story follows several individuals from their youth to maturity is very important. When children read the book they grow with the characters and form their points of view. Getting rid of the books at schools and disable students from reading them takes a huge opportunity to build their characters and form their personalities away. Reactions on the film for which John Irving wrote the screenplay also included protests even though the film came out long after his book.

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