Huntsville-Madison County Public Library discussion

Stuck in the mud with you

I was led to Hillary Jordan’s novel ‘Mudbound’ by the current Netflix film adaptation of it which, like all good film adaptations of novels, evokes the essence of the novel and lets the viewer know that the source material is very likely a worthy novel.

‘Mudbound’, unlike many historical novels set in the South that deal with relations between whites and blacks, is neither a slavery era period piece nor a civil rights-infused polemic of the 1960’s but a story that occurs in the years just after World War II in which Jim Crow regulations and codes of behavior were alive and in full force.

The white McAllen family is comprised of Henry, an ambitious eldest son who is determined to make his farm in the Mississippi delta a success, his wife Laura, a well-educated ‘old maid’ of 31 from a prosperous family in Memphis, his younger brother Jamie, a handsome charmer just back from the war as a bomber pilot, and their virulently racist father Pappy.

The Jacksons, Hap, his wife Florence, and their four children, are share tenants on the land. Hap is a lay preacher who hopes to save enough money eventually to own a small plot of land and Florence is a midwife. Their oldest son, Ronsel, who simply wants an education to better himself and escape from life on a farm, is also just back from the war where he was a tank commander in Patton’s army in Europe.

The novel is told through a series of interior monologue chapters from each of the main characters, except Pappy, reminiscent of Faulkner’s ‘As I Lay Dying’ with characters that could populate a Faulkner novel, albeit without Faulkner’s convoluted syntax and flexible manipulation of time.

We see evidence of varying degrees of racism through all of the characters. Henry, though less rabid than his father, simply takes it for granted that this is the established order of things and that he is entitled to enlist the aid of his black tenants whenever and for whatever he may need. His counterpart in the black community, Hap, is understandably distrustful of white people, yet he knows through years of experience, that this order cannot be challenged so he may as well accept it and acquiesce; it will be better in the long run to maintain a fragile peace.

Laura, though more socially evolved on a scale of ethical and equitable humane treatment, also accepts the racial order. She has tolerated the decisions of her husband to uproot her from the civilized world in Memphis to a rural land where there is no heating, plumbing, or electricity, on a plain that is so soggy when it rains that the bridge to the nearest town is flooded; she feels like she is floating in a giant bowl of soup made of mud. This leads her to dub their homestead ‘Mudbound’. When her little girls both get whooping cough and Henry can’t cross the bridge to get the nearest doctor, Henry goes over to Hap and Florence’s cabin to enlist Florence’s aid. Though Florence is a midwife, not a doctor, she willingly leaves her own children to come to Mudbound to treat Henry’s and Laura’s girls, knowing that, since the girls are contagious, she will need to stay with them for a few days, leaving Hap to take care of their children on his own while also tending to the crops.

Laura knows Florence’s situation and yet her desperation for the health of her girls takes precedence over Florence’s needs. Nevertheless, the two mothers do reach a common bond of understanding that transcends the racial barriers. They are also united in their resentment of the demanding Pappy who is always willing to dispense his ‘wisdom’ and expects to be waited on constantly.

Jamie and Ronsel both return from the war altered and traumatized young men. Jamie’s medicine for treating his condition resides in a liquor bottle, from which he partakes liberally and steadily. Ronsel’s ‘medicine’ was left behind in Europe, a white fraulein named Resl that accepted and loved him as a man regardless of his race. He was a hero in Europe, a liberator, and he knew that after his inevitable return home he would have to resume his role as a subservient Negro, falling into line and obeying the social laws enforced on his race. Jamie is also more evolved racially than his brother Henry and his exposure to the wider world out there broadened his outlook towards people with different ethnic backgrounds or nationalities. He and Ronsel bond over their shared experiences as veterans. Jamie acts from his position of white privilege in flaunting the racial codes of his native land by associating with Ronsel as an equal and committing flagrant acts such as inviting Ronsel to ride in the seat of the truck beside him rather than sitting in the wagon in the back, oblivious to the harm that this will inflict on Ronsel.

Various characters speculate over the cause and effect chain of circumstances that led them where they are now. If this had not happened then this might not have happened, therefore, the result from that would have been different and so on. It seems to be a common philosophical exercise for people that are rooted in rigid social and economic locations and perhaps the only kind of liberation they can give themselves from their situations.

This is a first novel from Jordan and it is extraordinarily ambitious. She very convincingly portrays the various points of view of both white and black characters. The extreme racists such as Pappy and others of his ilk are irredeemably vile and one-dimensional. However, there is plenty of historical evidence of attitudes and acts that are just as implausible as what these characters say and do. Pappy is the only character that doesn’t get his own monologues. Perhaps they would be just as vile as the stream of invective that comes out of his mouth every time he makes an appearance.

The chain of cause and effect that carries the plot to its tragic conclusion seems completely plausible and lacking in contrivance. These are characters decades away from the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Act, or any of the other legislative measures that have been enforced to level the playing field in this country. ‘Mudbound’ is also a very timely reminder that while racial relations have improved externally in many ways, the hearts and minds of this country’s citizens have remained the same in many ways.