A girl becomes a woman when she learns to “spread her wings and fly.” The title character in Meridel Le Sueur’s novel, The Girl, does just that. The novel is not only about women and their struggle to survive during the Depression, but it is also about the transformation of a young girl, through all her experiences, becoming a woman.
The Girl was “a virgin from the country scared of her shadow” (2). She had not been away from home long enough to form her own opinions because she refers to her mama telling her that "the cities were Sodom and Gomorrah, and terrible things could be happening to you” (1). She had come to the city to find a job, and she did at the German Village where. She said, “ I was lucky enough to get a job in those bad times” (1). The German Village was a bar run by Belle, Hoink, her husband, and Ack, her brother-in-law. The Girl worked there as a waitress with Clara and “had to be going up and down from the bar to the bootleg rooms upstairs” (1). Ganz was a gangster “who brought in bootleg from Dakota and paid protection for the place” (1). Although the German Village was a shady establishment frequented by questionable characters, the Girl found a place among them.
Butch and Bill, his brother, entered the German Village and Clara said to the Girl, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you” (5). Clara had told her before that Butch was dangerous. But, the Girl was in awe of Butch: “Butch took over the bar and I tried to stay downstairs so I could just look and see him “(5). Butch and the Girl began dating, “Things got to be very strong between Butch and me” (8). And, eventually, she lost her virginity to him. Afterwards, the girl just wanted to stay in Butch’s arms, but he tells the Girl that he “has to meet a guy” and that he is already late (46). It was clear that the Girl was very hurt and confused:
I felt I became mama and could feel all her terrible suffering and also joy and some
kind of giving she was always doing…O it was strange and hidden, terrible and
wonderful. (46)
The Girl said, “his whole body said something and I cannot remember the words but it would change me forever” (45). The physical intimacy the Girl experienced with Butch would indeed change her forever, and so, too, would the fact that she became pregnant with his child.
During a botched bank robbery, Butch, Hoink, and Ganz were killed. While they were inside the bank, the Girl was waiting outside to drive the getaway car. She saw Butch come backwards out of the bank and he was holding his side. The Girl drove the car very fast, and when she was sure they weren’t being followed, she slowed down to look at Butch’s wound: “He was almost split in two, the skin stripped down like bark” (87). The Girl drove Butch to an abandoned cabin where he died, and she returned to the city.
When the Girl knocked on the door of the German Village, Belle “gave a cry and unbolted the door,” and pulled her inside, and put her arms around her (98). Clara was there, too, and Amelia, who was an emotionally strong friend to all of them. Amelia would spread the word of the “Worker’s Alliance” to anyone who would listen. The Girl and all of her women friends were together again and would remain that way, taking strength in each other. They, along with Butch’s mother, moved together to an old warehouse. They were all there when the Girl went into labor. After Amelia delivered the baby, the woman said,
A kind of woman’s humming was all around me. I saw mama in them all, the
bearing the suffering in us all, their seized bodies, bent bellies hanging, and
the ferocity of their guarding. (131)
Newborn Clara’s mother cupped her tiny head, giving to her child her full breast of milk.
The girl, on her path to womanhood, experiences many of life’s trials, tribulations, and triumphs. She experiences independence. She experiences the finding and the joy of love. She experiences the losing of and the sorrow of love. She experiences the bond of true friendship. And, lastly, she experiences the miracle of giving birth. She is not just a girl; she is a woman.
Tina Holley ENG102-0140 3/4/2002
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