They're not "hillbillies:" they're Americans like you and me who speak in a dialect, Appalachian English. The family is loving and trying to reconcile their Fundamentalists beliefs with the new found love of Science by their daughter, Mary Mae.
I found it was too easy to dismiss them as ignorant, not because of their speech (which was a minor deal, really), but because of their attitudes toward school, church, and authority figures. Yes, Mary Mae's parents and grandma clearly love her, but I wanted more nuanced characterizations, so the story could be more than just "Bible-thumpers vs. enlightened scientists." OCTAVIA BOONE and EVOLUTION, ME, AND OTHER FREAKS OF NATURE did it better, I thought.
They're not "hillbillies:" they're Americans like you and me who speak in a dialect, Appalachian English. The family is loving and trying to reconcile their Fundamentalists beliefs with the new found love of Science by their daughter, Mary Mae.
ReplyDeleteI found it was too easy to dismiss them as ignorant, not because of their speech (which was a minor deal, really), but because of their attitudes toward school, church, and authority figures. Yes, Mary Mae's parents and grandma clearly love her, but I wanted more nuanced characterizations, so the story could be more than just "Bible-thumpers vs. enlightened scientists." OCTAVIA BOONE and EVOLUTION, ME, AND OTHER FREAKS OF NATURE did it better, I thought.
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