10 minute read

Rubyfruit Jungle (Rita Mae Brown) novel excerpt

Rita Mae Brown (born 1944) is an American writer, activist and feminist, best known for her debut novel, Rubyfruit Jungle (1973). Although a controversial novel at the time, it received great reviews.

BEFORE READING 

Read the introduction. What expectations do you think American girls and boys were faced with in the 1950s or ´60s?

despite til trods for defiant trodsig makeshift midlertidig leftover til overs red-neck bondeknold clothespin tøjklemme collar krave gap kløft distinct tydelig leer kigge sjofelt

Rubyfruit Jungle

by Rita Mae Brown

Rubyfruit Jungle tells the story of Molly Bolt who is adopted into a poor family. Growing up in 1950s and ‘60s America, she finds it difficult to live up to the expectations of what a girl should be like. Despite an underprivileged background, she is ambitious, defiant and not afraid to be “different”. Her cousin Leroy, on the other hand, desperately wants to fit in.

[…]

That September I went to Naval Air Junior High School, a makeshift school in navy barracks leftover from World War II. The teachers were leftover too, and I was bored out of my mind. I kept to myself to see who was who in that place before I made any friends. There were a fair amount of rich kids at Naval Air. You could tell them by their clothes and the way they talked. I knew enough from English lessons by this time to know they had good grammar. They held themselves away from the red-neck kids. I didn’t mix with anybody. I knew I wasn’t rich but then I wasn’t walking around with little plastic clothespins on my collar like all the red-neck girls either. The boys were much worse than the girls. They had long greasy hair and wore denim jackets with bloody eyeballs drawn on them. Hot as hell they’d wear those denim jackets and black motorcycle boots and they were dirty mouthed to go along with it.

Back in the Hollow we were all the same. Maybe Cheryl Spiegelglass had a little more, but the gap didn’t seem so wide. Here it was a distinct line drawn between two camps and I was certain I didn’t want to be on the side with the greasy boys that leered at me and talked filthy. But I had no money. It took me all of seventh grade to figure out how I would take care of myself in this new situation, but I did figure it out.

scholarship stipendium Carrie Molly’s adoptive mother rapidly hurtigt appearance udseende power plant kraftværk hum summen, brummelyd snots snobber ixora en type blomst tub her: tyksak d.a. forkortelse for ”duck’s ass” (anderumpe – en populær frisure i 1950erne) flunk out droppe ud af skolen take the strap to slå med et bælte cock lægge hovedet på skrå

For one thing I made good grades and they counted for a lot. You couldn’t go to college without good grades. Even in junior high school, the rich kids talked about college. If I made those grades, I’d get a scholarship, then I’d go too. I also had to stop talking the way we talked at home. I could think bad grammar all I wanted, but I learned rapidly not to speak it. Then there was the problem of clothes. I couldn’t afford all those clothes. The next fall, when Carrie took me to a Lerner Shop for my wardrobe, I told her I didn’t want two-dollar blouses from Lerner’s. She didn’t get mad like I expected. In fact, she seemed pleased that I was taking an interest in my appearance. It gave her hope for my femininity. She agreed that I could buy a few good things from a better store. Kids at school may have noticed that I wore the same things a lot, but at least they were good things. And I knew I couldn’t make my way by throwing parties. What would we all do, dance to the power plant hum? Anyway, I wasn’t up for bringing those snots home. I decided to become the funniest person in the whole school. If someone makes you laugh you have to like her. I even made my teachers laugh. It worked.

It was about this time during the last of eighth grade that Leroy and I began to understand we weren’t going to run away together and become famous actors. One Sunday when the ixora were in full bloom and everything was bright red we went up to Loxahachee. Leroy and I were down by the canal at Old Powerline Road, fishing. Leroy wasn’t a tub anymore. He had grown his hair into a d.a. that curled over his denim jacket with the bloody eyeballs on it.

“Hey, is it true you’re flunking out this year?”

“Yeah, the old man is ready to take the strap to me but I don’t give a damn. School’s stupid. There’s nothing they can teach me. I want to go make money and buy me a Bonneville Triumph like Craig’s.”

“Me too, and I’d paint mine candy apple red.”

“You can’t have one. Girls can’t have motorcycles.”

“Fuck you, Leroy. I’ll buy an army tank if I want to and run over anyone who tells me I can’t have it.”

Leroy cocked his slicked head and looked at me. “You know, I think you’re a queer.”

“So what if I am, except I’m not real sure what you mean by that.”

“I mean you ain’t natural, that’s what I mean. It’s time you started worrying about your hair and doing those things that girls are supposed to do.”

“Since when are you telling me what to do, lardass? I can still lay you out flat.” Leroy backed off a few paces, because he knew it was true and he wasn’t up for no fight especially since we were near a bed of sandspurs. “How come you’re all of a sudden so interested in my being a lady?”

“I dunno. I like you the way you are, but then I get confused. If you’re doing what you please, out there riding around on motorcycles, then what am I supposed to do? I mean how do I know how to act if you act the same way?”

“What goddamn difference does it make to you what I do? You do what you want and I do what I want.”

“Maybe I don’t know what I want,” his voice wavered. “Besides, I’m a chicken and you’re not. You really would go around on a candy apple red Triumph and give people the finger when they stared at you. I don’t want people down on me.” Leroy started to cry. I pulled him close to me, and we sat on the bank of the canal that was stinking in the noon sun. [...]

UNDERSTANDING

8 Work with the quote

In the excerpt, Molly says, “It took me all of seventh grade to figure out how I would take care of myself in this new situation, but I did figure it out”.

a) What did Molly figure out to do in order to fit in and get acceptance from the teachers and the other students?

Reread the excerpt to find at least two examples and write them down.

b) What do you think you would have done in a similar situation? Write a couple of sentences to explain.

Share your thoughts in class.

lardass fedtbjerg lay somebody flat tæve nogen sandspurs stikkende ukrudt waver her: sitre get down on someone blive sur på nogen bank her: bred

Why fit in, when you were born to stand out?

Dr. Seuss

9 Describe the main characters

Work with a partner. Readers get to know a character not just through direct description of the person, but also through their words, voice and actions.

a) Take turns guessing a character. Student A says a sentence about one of the characters. Student B tries to guess which character the sentence describes.

Example:

This person decided to become the funniest person in school. This person wants to drop out of school.

b) In the dialogue, Leroy says to Molly, “I mean how do I know how to act if you act the same way?”

What do you think he means by that? Discuss with your partner, take notes and prepare to share in class.

TALKING

10 Give your opinion

It seems that Molly is not afraid of being different from others, whereas Leroy does not want others to dislike him.

a) What do you do to fit in/stand out?

Consider the following:

b) Prepare a one-minute talk and share your thoughts in a

Double circle.

clothes hairstyle political views sports attitude towards school

If you like, you can start like this: I try to stand out by … I try to fit in by …

11 Reflect on the topic

Work with a partner and discuss the following question: How does this excerpt from Rubyfruit Jungle connect with the topic of the chapter? Prepare to share your thoughts in class.

If you like, you can start like this: I believe that … In my opinion … I think that …

WRITING

12 Write about being new

How does it feel to be the new girl or boy?

a) Write an email to a friend about your experience of being new. Make sure that your email answers the following questions: – What was the situation? – How did you feel? – How did you handle it? – What did you learn from the experience?

b) Work with a partner.

Read your emails out loud to each other. Are there any similarities between your experiences?

GRAMMAR

13 Work with contractions

Read the text:

Leroy cocked his slicked head and looked at me. “You know, I think you’re a queer.”

“So what if I am, except I’m not real sure what you mean by that.”

“I mean you ain’t natural, that’s what I mean. It’s time you started worrying about your hair and doing those things that girls are supposed to do.”

A contraction is a shortened combination of two words. Write down the contractions you find in the text. Then, write each of them out in two words.

Example: I’m is the short form of I am.

14 Work with adjectives

Read the text:

I knew I wasn’t rich but then I wasn’t walking around with little plastic clothespins on my collar like all the red-neck girls either. The boys were much worse than the girls. They had long greasy hair and wore denim jackets with bloody eyeballs drawn on them. Hot as hell they’d wear those denim jackets and black motorcycle boots and they were dirty mouthed to go along with it.

a) Find at least five adjectives and write them down.

b) Conjugate and write the adjectives in the positive, and superlative forms. Compare your notes with a partner’s.

Example:

Positive Comparative Superlative rich richer the richest bad worse the worst

15 Adjectives and adverbs

Read the sentences:

I would take care of myself in this new situation. She didn’t get mad as I expected. One Sunday when the ixora were in full bloom and everything was bright red, we went up to Loxahachee.

a) Find the adjectives in each sentence and write them down.

Write the corresponding adverbs next to the adjectives you found.

Example: quiet (adj.) - quietly (adv.)

b) Write sentences of your own using different adverbs.

Example: He talked quietly so he wouldn’t draw attention to himself.

Adverbs

An adverb is a word that describes or modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb.

Examples: He talks happily about his childhood – the adverb describes a verb.

The very handsome boy sat next to me – the adverb describes an adjective.

He talks very happily about his childhood – the adverb describes another adverb.

Many adverbs end with -ly: slowly, quickly, brutally, beautifully, strangely

Adverbs can also show where something happened (here, in, somewhere) and when something happened (tomorrow, now, always).

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