Note To Teachers

Harriet Arnow’s unforgettable yet tragic novel, The Dollmaker, was published in 1954 to immediate success and
critical acclaim. A bestseller and runner up for the 1955 National Book Award (to William Faulkner’s The Fable) The
Dollmaker has been largely forgotten in contemporary American literary discourse. However, as Joyce Carol Oates
claims in her afterword “There are certainly greater novels than The Dollmaker, but I can think of none that have
moved me more, personally, terrifyingly, involving me in the solid fact of life’s criminal exploitation of those who live
it—not hard, not sentimental, not at all intellectually ambitious, The Dollmaker is one of those excellent American
works that have yet to be properly assessed” (p. 608).

In unadorned yet powerful prose, Harriet Arnow tells the heartbreaking story of the Nevels family and their quest to
maintain their values and their family amidst the turmoil of war. As the novel opens, we are introduced to Gertie
Nevels, a strong, self-reliant woman who performs a tracheotomy on her dying son in order to save him while she tries
to get him to a doctor. Unfortunately, this brave act seems to be the last time that she follows her own instincts. Forced
by social mores to follow her husband, Clovis, from the Kentucky backwoods she loves to the foreign and oppressive
city life of Detroit, Gertie struggles between her desire to keep her family together and her yearning for the lifestyle
and the land she loves.

Arnow’s masterful novel is realistic in style, full of regional dialect and finely crafted characters. In The Dollmaker,
Arnow explores many compelling themes relevant to American life during World War II. She examines the roles of
women in society, the struggle to uphold family values, the role of the war itself on rural and urban life, the way that
religious beliefs inform one’s choices in life, among many others. The Dollmaker is a novel that makes one think as
well as feel, and it has a surprising amount of relevance to our own time.

A sprawling book, full of vividly drawn characters and masterful scenes, The Dollmaker is both a passionate
denunciation of industrialization and war, and a tribute to a woman's love for her children and the land.

Harriet Arnow was born in 1908 into a family whose roots reached back for five generations of Kentucky’s history.
From this rich background, she inherited a bountiful storytelling tradition that provided inspiration for her acclaimed
novels: Mountain Path, Hunter’s Horn, and The Dollmaker, the last considered her masterpiece and a landmark of
American fiction. She died in 1986.

Questions For Class Discussion

1. Gertie is introduced to the reader as such a strong woman—fighting for her dying son’s life, working the land
and running the household. Why do you think she doesn’t stand up to her mother when she has the chance to
buy the Tipton Place? How does her reaction to this event change your perception of Gertie? Do you think she
makes the right choice?

2. The decision to forgo buying the land and move to Detroit is really the turning point of the novel. Do you think
it occurs too early in the novel? Do you get the feeling at this point that they will ever move back to Kentucky or
do you think they will have to stay in Detroit?

3. At times, the events in The Dollmaker seem terrible—as if Gertie and her family may be without hope. Do you
think they are, or is there a chance that life can or will get better for Gertie and her family?"

4. Most of the children aside from Reuben seem to adjust to city life fairly easily. Do you think that Gertie feels
betrayed by them even though she wants them to be happy? Do you think they still maintain their rural values
even though they have adapted to the city? Discuss.

5. Harriet Arnow skillfully writes in the dialect of the characters who are speaking whether they are from the
Kentucky backcountry or Detroit or elsewhere. Did you find it difficult to understand the characters when they
spoke in their natural dialect? How does language affect how the characters in the novel interact with each
other? How does it affect how you as a reader react to the characters?
 6. Gertie indulges Cassie’s imaginary friend Callie Lou until Clovis convinces her that Callie Lou must be gotten
rid of. Not long after Callie Lou is killed, Cassie herself is killed. Do you think Gertie feels responsible for her
death? Should she? What about Clovis? How is he affected by Cassie’s death? Do you think Cassie’s death is
inevitable or could it have been avoided?

7. On page 426-27 Clovis claims, “Why, if I’d had knowed you’d ha had all that money, I’d said buy a place an
wait fer me…I wanted you to have what you wanted, Gert.” Were you surprised by this revelation? How does it
affect your opinion of Clovis? Do you think Gertie has been unfair to him?

8. Gertie’s whittling keeps her sane and is an artistic expression of her personality. Do you think she sells out when
she starts making generic dolls to support the family? Do you see it as a sign of strength or weakness that she
can do this?

9. There are many references to Judas in this novel. Do you think Gertie is being compared to Judas? Is this an
accurate comparison? Why or why not?

10. The people in Detroit come from all different backgrounds and they have an inherent distrust of each other even
though they live side by side. Discuss the ways in which they are forced to rely on each other even though they
may be suspicious of one another.

11. At the end of the novel it becomes clear that Clovis has killed the young man who beat him up, but it is not
really examined by Gertie or discussed between Gertie and Clovis. Why do you think this is? Do you think
Clovis gets away with this crime? Do you think the author lets him off the hook for this crime and for all of his
other shortcomings?

12. When The Dollmaker was first published it was a bestseller as well as a critical success. Why do you think its
popularity diminished over the years? Do you think it deserves to be rediscovered as an American masterpiece?

Topics For Research And Writing Projects

1. Write a paper discussing the effects of industrialization on society. How has it helped and/or hurt us as a
society?

2. The unions play a large role in the lives of the factory workers in this novel. Research the union movement
during World War II and examine its influence over business. Compare it with the role of unions today.

3. The setting of The Dollmaker comes out of Harriet Arnow’s own experience of moving from rural Kentucky to
Detroit with her family during the World War II era. Research this time in American history and compare and
contrast the lives of people who lived in rural areas with those who lived in cities. Which life do you think was
more difficult and why?

4. In her afterword, Joyce Carol Oates states that “history passes over most of us”—that is we are unable to assess
the profundity of what is happening in our own time. Evaluate the state of the world now and see if you can
discern how this idea could apply to our lives today.

5. Write an essay on how Arnow’s use of dialect in The Dollmaker affects your reading of the novel and what it
says about her characters—their level of education, their heritage, their economic status, etc. Do these characters
ultimately have anything in common? Discuss.

6. Harriet Arnow uses biblical references throughout The Dollmaker. Discuss the ways in which Gertie’s belief in
God affects her decisions/choices in life, as well as her opinion of herself and others.
 7. A major theme of the novel is the difference between urban and rural life. Imagine that you were uprooted from
your home and forced to live an entirely different lifestyle. Write an essay describing how you would feel and
what challenges you might face if thrown into such a predicament.

8. Research the role of women during World War II. Discuss their jobs in the factories, etc. and their roles in
maintaining things at home if their husbands were off in the war. How do you think their roles impacted families
at the time? Did it change women’s roles in society and family life forever? Was it a positive or negative
change?

9. Discuss the theme of betrayal in The Dollmaker. Evaluate the many references to Judas throughout the novel and
discuss the many forms of betrayal that take place: Gertie’s mother of her; Clovis’s betrayal of Gertie; Gertie’s
betrayals of Reuben and Cassie; and Gertie’s betrayal of herself and her values and dreams. Discuss the
consequences of these betrayals.

Suggestions For Further Reading

Hunter’s Horn, Harriet Arnow; A Place on Earth, Wendell Berry; The Unquiet Earth, Denise Giardina; River of Earth,
James Still; Fair and Tender Ladies, Lee Smith

Imprint: Avon; ISBN: 0380009471; On Sale: 8/1/1976; Format: Paperback; Subformat: ; Length: ; Trimsize: 4 3/16 x 6 3/4; Pages: 608; $6.99; $8.99(CAN)