Necessary Lies

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2013

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-11

Chapters 12-21

Chapters 22-40

Chapters 41-58

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Chapters 1-11Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 1 Summary: “Brenna, June 22, 2011”

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of forced sterilization, racism, violence, suicide, and sexual trauma.

Jane’s stepdaughter Brenna visits a house in Raleigh owned by a woman named Jennifer. Jennifer allows Brenna to look inside of the closet in her daughter’s bedroom where the words “Ivy and Mary was here” are carved into the woodwork (3).

Chapter 2 Summary: “Ivy, 1960”

Fifteen-year-old Ivy Hart ends a day of work on Davison Gardiner’s tobacco field and heads home to her grandmother, Nonnie, and her nephew, William. Two-year-old William is fussy, and Nonnie asks where his mother, 17-year-old Mary Ella, has gone off to. As dusk sets in after supper, Ivy goes in search of Mary Ella, insinuating that she may be off with a boy. Just as it is growing dark, Ivy spots her carrying a basket of goods from Mr. Gardiner. Mary Ella rushes home ahead of Ivy but will not reveal where she has been.

Chapter 3 Summary: “Jane”

Jane undergoes a gynecological exam by Dr. Carson, a colleague of her fiancé, Robert. She asks him to prescribe birth control pills, but Dr. Carson will only do so with Robert’s permission once they are married.

Humiliated, Jane drives to a job interview for a social work position. As she drives, she thinks about having a friend, who has procured the pills for herself, help her obtain them. At the interview, she is greeted by Charlotte Werkman. Charlotte is impressed by many of Jane’s attributes, though she is concerned about how Robert feels about Jane having a career and cautions Jane about the difficulty of the work. Jane, however, accepts the job when offered, which will begin in three weeks, after she has returned from her honeymoon. She is surprised to discover that she will not be working in Raleigh, where she lives, but in a nearby town named Ridley.

Chapter 4 Summary: “Ivy”

Ivy sneaks out of bed at midnight to meet Henry Allen, Mr. Gardiner’s son. Henry Allen has spread out a blanket and has brought cherry pie and a large book with photographs of California to show to Ivy. Having visited the state at age eight, Henry Allen is determined to return; he and Ivy dream of moving there upon graduation. Ivy has grown doubtful of the feasibility of this dream, however, as she is consumed with caring for William and monitoring Nonnie’s diabetes. As Ivy and Henry Allen become intimate, she thinks about how this is the only moment of her day when she is free of worry.

Chapter 5 Summary: “Jane”

Jane and Robert honeymoon in Hawaii. On a sunset cruise, they chat with another couple, and Jane proudly shows off her new husband. At dinner that night, Jane and Robert discuss her new job, which Robert has agreed to let her “try,” though he wishes she would choose a different type of work. He fears that his friends will assume that Jane has to work because he does not earn enough money. When he asks Jane whether she will have clients who are people of color, Jane lies and says she will not. Robert wants her to try to fit in better with his friends and colleagues.

Chapter 6 Summary: “Ivy”

Ivy and the other women hang tobacco to dry. It is hot, and Ivy’s fellow tenant Lita Jordan sings while they work. Ivy thinks about what a good mother Lita is to her boys, wishing her own mother were still there. In the afternoon, Mr. Gardiner sends Ivy to his family’s store for a box of crackers. His wife is there, and she offers Ivy a cold soda. She is cheerful and friendly to Ivy, and Ivy notes the scar across her face, remembering that it was her mother who gave Mrs. Gardiner the scar.

Chapter 7 Summary: “Jane”

Jane begins work, shadowing Charlotte Werkman. They drive to visit Lita. Charlotte explains that Lita lives on Mr. Gardiner’s farm with her six children. Charlotte was recently able to help Lita become voluntarily sterilized through a eugenics program. Charlotte explains the qualifications for this sterilization, noting that Lita qualified due to her age and number of existing children. Jane is surprised to learn that Lita is Black.

Charlotte chats with Lita while Lita prepares the afternoon meal. They discuss her children’s health and needs. Jane learns about each of Lita’s children. Charlotte asks Lita if 17-year-old Eli needs sterilization surgery, but Lita assures her that she watches him closely. Lita explains her relation to the Hart family, whom Jane will meet next. Charlotte and Jane give Lita some clothing for the children before leaving.

Chapter 8 Summary: “Ivy”

Ivy tries to clean the tobacco from her hands, hoping to see Henry Allen, whom she has not been able to meet at midnight for the past three days. Instead, she spots Nonnie running toward her. Ivy worries something bad has happened, but instead, Nonnie explains that she has seen Mrs. Werkman’s car. Ivy is relieved, knowing the social worker can supply them with clothing and diapers. Nonnie cautions Ivy not to reveal that Mr. Gardiner has been giving them food, as this could result in a decrease in their benefits.

Chapter 9 Summary: “Jane”

Jane and Charlotte visit the Hart home. As they approach, Charlotte explains the family’s background: Percy Hart, the father of Mary Ella and Ivy, was killed in a farming accident, and their mother Violet, who has schizophrenia, was admitted to a psychiatric hospital shortly after. Charlotte reveals that Nonnie consented to sterilizing Mary Ella after William was born, but Mary Ella, whom Charlotte says has a low IQ, was told she was having an appendectomy instead. Charlotte hopes to obtain permission for Ivy, who has a slightly higher IQ but suffers from seizures, to be sterilized as well.

Jane meets Ivy and William and is immediately drawn to them. The women talk in private with Nonnie, who worries about Ivy’s sneaking out at night. Charlotte says she will send a nurse to speak with Ivy about contraception. Mary Ella arrives, and Jane is briefly taken aback, as the girl reminds Jane of her late sister, Teresa.

After Charlotte and Jane leave, Charlotte explains that she wants to place William in foster care, as he is not well cared for and shows signs of delayed development.

Chapter 10 Summary: “Ivy”

Nurse Ann visits and examines William. She is concerned about his weight, that he has a rash, and that he is not monitored carefully enough. She asks Nonnie about monitoring her blood sugar and, though Nonnie tries to wave away the nurse’s concern, Ivy reveals that too often the test results are not as they should be.

Nurse Ann chats with Ivy in private, giving her contraception and explaining how to use it. Ivy denies needing contraception and complains of not liking the new social worker.

Chapter 11 Summary: “Jane”

On the fourth morning of her job, Jane discusses her work with Robert over breakfast. He worries that she is not getting to know the wives of his colleagues but expresses his approval of eugenics practices. They have a brief argument about the utility of welfare services.

Charlotte and Jane arrive at the home of a couple and three children whom a Baptist minister has asked them to check on. They must cross a rickety bridge to reach the house, but Charlotte’s leg becomes caught, and Jane flees to find help. The wife of the home reluctantly pulls a sled to where Charlotte lies, then the two women pull Charlotte back to the car so that Jane can drive her to a hospital.

Chapters 1-11 Analysis

This section of the novel establishes Jane Forrester as a character who challenges Gender Norms in Mid-20th-Century America through her commitment to Personal Agency and Autonomy. Jane is atypical of women of her class during the 1960s. A college education was not a given for women in the mid-20th century; further, because Jane’s husband has a reputable career as a doctor, she does not need to have a job to earn additional money. Socially, her role as a doctor’s wife prescribes that her life revolves around domestic tasks, charity work, and social events, such as those at Robert’s country club. However, Jane opts to pursue a career because doing so is meaningful to her, reflecting her commitment to personal agency. Robert’s opposition to Jane’s work becomes instrumental in the novel’s exploration of mid-20th-century gender norms and expectations. His objections are rooted not only in patriarchal beliefs but also in class distinctions: As a physician, he fears his peers will judge him poorly if his wife works outside of the home. This connection between gender and class expectations illustrates how gender roles are imposed differently based on class: While Jane is expected to stay home and raise children, women and girls of lower social classes are subjected to forced sterilization. Jane’s decision to pursue a career despite societal pressures underscores her determination to assert her autonomy and challenge traditional roles assigned to women of her class.

The stark class differences between Jane and her clients emerge as an early conflict in the novel. Robert disapproves of Jane’s interacting with people whom he deems beneath their station. He fears that merely stepping foot in the county where her clients reside is dangerous. Robert’s fear nearly comes to fruition when Charlotte is injured, and the couple near the bridge is reluctant to provide help. The couple senses that Jane and Charlotte do not belong and are intruding into a world in which they do not belong. Indeed, the class differences between Jane and her clients are noticeable. Jane is accustomed to luxuries that the Harts and Jordans do not have. Jane’s naivete about the poverty of her clients is evident, but she does not let this stop her from showing warmth and kindness to the families. Charlotte cautions Jane that the work will be difficult, and Jane is unprepared for the circumstances that her clients face. Jane adapts swiftly, however, and shows no signs of shying away from carrying out her job. Despite the initial challenges posed by class disparities and Jane’s ignorance of poverty, Jane reveals her determination to bridge class differences, seeking to empathize with her clients as people rather than provide dispassionate support.

The narrative’s exploration of class disparities is further driven by the theme of The Cycle of Poverty. The Hart family’s struggles are central to the novel’s conflict. Because the Hart parents are absent, the girls’ care falls on their grandmother, Winona (“Nonnie”). Her age and poor health, however, make this task hard for her. Further, two-year-old William needs constant care, which is difficult to provide as Ivy and Mary Ella must work all day to support the family. These challenges are exacerbated by factors such as Mary Ella’s apparent intellectual disabilities and William’s slow development, which are in turn compounded by the family’s economic challenges. The circular relationship between the family’s lack of resources and the other difficulties they face illustrates the cyclical nature of poverty.

The eugenics movement is presented as a way of managing The Cycle of Poverty without addressing its root causes. The state eugenics program seeks to prevent those in poverty from having children rather than providing such families with the deeper support that they need to break out of poverty’s entrenched cycle. Jane learns that Mary Ella has been sterilized without her knowledge or consent. Jane is told that this procedure was in Mary Ella’s best interests, as more children would place an additional strain on an already strained family. Charlotte also believes that Mary Ella isn’t intelligent enough to prevent future pregnancies. This argument is made in the case of Ivy, too. However, the chapters told from Ivy’s point of view suggest otherwise. Though she lies to Nurse Ann and others about being sexually active, Ivy knows that sex can cause pregnancy. Thus, Ivy’s perspective complicates the novel’s conflict, illustrating why forced sterilization is problematic. The relationship she has with Henry Allen appears to be a mutually loving one, but the risk they take in having unprotected sex foreshadows Ivy’s later pregnancy. By shifting between Jane’s perspective, where social workers make decisions on Ivy’s behalf without consulting her, and Ivy’s perspective, where she expresses her intelligence and desire for agency, the novel grapples with the ethical implications of the eugenics program. These alternating perspectives highlight the complex realities of Personal Agency and Autonomy in the face of poverty and systemic oppression.

This section also hints at the racism driving the eugenics movement through Lita Jordan, a Black woman living in poverty. Jane’s surprise at meeting a Black woman reveals her own internalized biases that reflect the normalized racism and segregation of the era. Unlike Ivy and Mary Ella, Lita voluntarily opts to have surgery to prevent further children. In keeping with the theme of Personal Agency and Autonomy, Lita is keenly aware that additional children would only provide further life stresses. Her narrative arc illustrates the benefits of empowering people to dictate their own reproductive futures.