Character Study

 Evelyn Couch is a 48 year old women who has lived her life following all the rules. Her two children moved away, living their young lives. Evelyn felt that she and her husband had never been more disconnected, she knows that he has cheated on her because she can not sexually satisfy him. She wasn't even sure if she still loved her husband. However, she did not want to get a divorce because she wouldn't know what to do with herself. She eats to make herself feel better. She always has a candy bar in hand or Taco Bell. She is rather depressed and even talks about committing suicide at the begining of the book but she knows that she can not go through with it. "Lately to get her mind off that cold gun and pulling the trigger, she would close her eyes and force herself to hear Mrs. Threadgoode's voice and if she breathed deep and concentratred she would soon see herself in Whistle stop" (p.133) Evelyn has grown so attached to this story, it is what gets her out of bed in the morning. It is almost an alternative to her life. One day a week she gets to engulf herself in this fascinating story that happened over fifty years ago.  Evelyn has always lived her life by the book.  Evelyn does not like change and these times have changed.  She does not like what society has become. She does not like all the vulgar language, the new television shows, and casual sex. When she was in high school, she was the classic good girl cheerleader and never smoked or drank. She was a southern lady who was always proper. She seems to be stuck in the past of her glory days. She is very depressed with everything going on in her life. When she goes to the nursing home she meets Niny who helps her come back to life. She helps Evelyn bring back her confidence. When Evelyn complains about how she needs to lose weight, Niny reminds her that she only gets to live once and a couple of candy bars won't kill her. She also told her that when she was depressed she would just walk. Walking was her therapy.  It saved her money by not having to go see a therapist. Niny gave Evelyn something to look forward to each week.

Niny Threadgoode is an older women living in a nursing home. She loves to talk and is very energetic. Niny acts as Evelyn's mentor throughout the story and slowly brings her back to life. She tells Evyln the story of the Whistle Stop Cafe with Idgie and Ruth. The theme does not revolve around her but she helps Evelyn learn the meaning of life. She encourages her to get off the couch and do something with her life because it's too short. She is such a young soul in an old person's body. "Pull your self together and open your heart to the lord" (p. 67) We can see from the beginning Evelyn has opened up to Niny who is giving advise to help Evelyn through this rough patch of her life.

Idgie Threadgode grew up in the 1920's.  Idgie had always been a stubborn little girl, she liked to play with the boys and hated wearing dresses.  When she found something she loved she could never let it go. She was very passionate about what she loved. When her big brother who she cared for so deeply got killed, she ran away from home. She had the hardest time with it. Then she met Ruth whom she loved so deeply. She is a tomboy who doesn't care what others think and always fights for what she believes in. This sometimes gets her into trouble. She treats everyone as a human being no matter their disability or color. She has a son who had lost an arm. She taught him to be tough and never to pity himself. She told him he could do anything anyone else could if he set his mind to it. That is how Idgie lived. She did not follow all of society's rules. She falls in love with a beautiful woman named Ruth. She is indeed a lesbian. People around her did not always accept her but the people who loved her did and that was all that mattered to Idgie. She also let colored people eat her food from the cafe. People in the town got upset with this. They warned her that she shouldn't be serving colored people, when it was a white only cafe. If it was up to her, she would have made her cafe open to everyone. She also had a soft spot for the poor. People would come from all over traveling and some times they were not able to pay. Idgie always would let them eat even if they could not afford it. She always offered southern hospitality.

Theme From American Literature

                   In American literature the most common theme is racism. In the twentieth century, it was a major issue and topic that everyone in America had to deal with. Many authors focus on the problems and issues caused by racism. Some of them have seen this through personal experience or hearing about it. When writing a story set in the 1920's and 30's in Alabama, racism has to be a major issue discussed. 
                So far in the novel, racism has been a reoccurring theme. The sub plot takes place in the 1920's and 1930's in the south near Birmingham, Alabama. Even in the small town of Whistle Stop, colored people and white people lived and ate separately. Idgie of course, rebellious as always, allows colored people to eat at her cafe if they come and pick it up from the back. It was frowned upon for her to do this in those days. Colored people are there throughout the novel. Colored people cook the food for the Whistle Stop Cafe and they take care of the people at the nursing home. When Ardis goes to Birmingham we see the Harlem of Birmingham where the colored people go to hang out. There were a few mentions of the Ku Klux Klan who had come over from Georgia. The KKK was still pretty big in the 1930's. They were upset that the cafe was selling food to black and white people. One of the people in the KKK happened to be Frank Bennet, Ruth's husband. Back at the nursing home Mrs. Threadgoode said something interesting to Evelyn about how most of the old people who lived in the home resented black people. It happened to be that most of the workers were black and took care of them. The old people in that nursing home in the 1980's were the ones living back during the depression and when there was still a lot of racism. Especially since the nursing home was located in Birmingham Alabama, these people only knew to be racists.                            

           Flagg brings up the great depression and how hard it affected the deep south. We first notice it with Railroad Bill, who throws food off the train for the poor people living along the tracks. They are all starving and thanks to Railroad Bill they can collect a little bit of food to survive. "Birmingham, the town during the Depression had been named by FDR "the hardest hit city in the U.S."(p.227)           
          She puts in another historical reference when she writes about the war and how Ruth and Idgies victory gardens are looking the best. During both world wars, people would make gardens so that more food could be used for the military and allies.

Beginning

      As the book begins I noticed that it is not written in one time period. Every chapter is a different date. It goes back and forth from the present day to the past. The story has two plots, a story within a story. When reading this story you really have to pay attention to the dates in front of each chapter to make sure the story fits together. This style of writing makes things more interesting and gives the story a more complex plot line that keeps the reader engaged. One of the plots is focused on Eveyln and the other is about Mrs. Threadgoode's crazy life in 1929.
      Mixed in with each chapter is "The Weems Weekly" which is a weekly little article from 1929 that talks about what is going on in the small town. It talks about the Whistle Stop Cafe and the people in the town. It gives the reader more insight into Mrs. Threadgoode's stories from the past.
       From the begining, we can see that Mrs. Threadgoode is a young soul stuck in an old person's body. She loves talking to people especially Evelyn who is just trying to support her husband by coming there to visit his sick mother. Mrs. Threadgoode is very outgoing and speaks her mind. She doesn't seem to care if the listener is interested; she just speaks her mind. The beginning of the novel hooks the reader and makes them want to keep reading to get to know the characters and their stories.