The Ends Justify the Means, or Do They?
The Girl is a novel written by Meridel Le Sueur that focuses on a girl who is never given a name. The character is representative of all the poor women who lived during the Great Depression. Many of the people who lived during this era were a part of World War II. The “Greatest Generation” is a term that is often used to describe those who experienced the Great Depression and World War II. Although the characters in Le Sueur’s novel were faced with incomprehensible hardships, they faced similar challenges that existed throughout the country. Whether some of them deserve to be included with the “Greatest Generation,” depends on whether meeting circumstances in a particular way justifies how it was accomplished. The Girl offers a perspective into the world of a naïve young woman justifying acts that, although illegal, are understood. Empathy is felt as the realization occurs that although people have gone hungry and have been abused and beaten, there is hope where life exists.
The girl degraded herself in order to stay alive. She worked as a waitress in a bar where bootleg was sold. She justified it by explaining that “I was lucky to get the job after all the walking and hunting Clara and I had been doing” (1). The girl listened to her friend and was grateful that she was a part of her life:
I was lucky to have Clara showing me how to wander on the street and not be picked up by plainclothesmen and police matrons. They will pick you up, Clara told me, and give you tests and sterilize you or send you to the woman’s prison. I liked to be with Clara and hear about it… (1)
Clara did not like being a prostitute but justified it by saying, “It’s all right…if you are always looking for something better” (8). Although she gave the girl advice about being a prostitute, she recognized and worried about the road she traveled:
O kid, she cried, we deserve it all. Do you think I’ll fry in hell? I am good. We are good, kid. You got to feel decent. You go on kid, get up in the world and leave me down here. (9)
It seems that Clara had little chance given the fact that she was brought up by a struggling mother who allowed her to work in a “sweatshop when she was twelve” (8). Clara had wonderful dreams that continued throughout the story, and as long as the dreams remained alive, perhaps her way of life was justification for realizing the peace that she sought.
Clara fell into the hands of relief workers. Although she was very sick, she did not get the medical care she needed. However, the electric shock treatments were plentiful. After arriving from the Hastings Mental Hospital, the social worker justified the treatment by saying, “These treatments take away anxiety” (123). Surely Clara would like to escape the memories that her life has provided so the mental health profession decided to focus on her mental condition. The healing of the mind was a justification for imposing mind altering treatments to a sick miserable woman. This may have been the attitude of the social worker, but the girl and Amelia did not share this opinion so for them, the end certainly did not justify the means. The girl told Clara that “memory is all we got…we got to remember.” Amelia offers to help Clara so that she can “remember” her mama (126).
Belle, another main character in the story, was a nurturer to the women in her life. Her maternal instincts, however, were never realized by having her own child. She had thirteen abortions but justified them by saying:
This is a rotten stinking world and for women it is worse, and with your insides rotting out of you and men at you day and night and the welfare workers following you and people having to live off each other like rats. It’s covered with slime…I wouldn’t bring up no kids in it…(9)
Belle’s husband, Hoinck, often spoke of his wife’s actions in a heroic manner. He bragged about her abortions as well as when she bailed him out many times saying, “I got me some woman. She took the rap for me once when I forged a check, and she had thirteen abortions” (11). Hoinck’s cowardly behavior, which included abusing his wife, was justified by him since he gave Belle the credit by putting her on a pedestal. At least his actions have been enabled by a strong woman who loves him and would do anything for him. Based on his luck with Belle, he can face anything.
The girl, her mother, and Belle have several things in common. During the story, each lady lost her lover in death. Additionally, each woman accepted beatings from the man she loved. In spite of this kind of treatment, each woman was attracted to her man and justified what he did. They spent much time humoring these losers, but receiving admiration or compliments from the men justified their deep feelings. Before Hoinck’s death, Belle told the girl a story where he whipped her, and she raised the question why she loved him saying:
He’s nuts, that’s what he is, nuts and I don’t see why I live with him, why I put up with him a minute on this earth...Goddamn him I love him that’s why I’m hooked like this all my life, Goddamn him I love him. (18)
After Hoinck’s death, the girl reminded Belle that he had been mean to her, but Belle said, “Not Hoinck…don’t you say that. Not him. He gave me it good and sweet” (101). After the girl’s father died, she heard the same message from her mother who said, “He was good to me…Yes, never a man was better. He was good to me” (36).
The bank robbery best answers the question that the end does not always justify the means. Sympathy is felt for the girl to the extent that she is easily manipulated by Butch. Wanting a family and security never justifies robbing a bank. The girl’s life is told in such a way, however, that for the girl to spend the rest of her life in jail for driving the getaway car is inconceivable. Le Sueur wrote the story so that experiencing the hunger and hard times with the characters clouds the judgment where it is easy to hope that there is a happy ending for the girl.
Ganz is the mean character in the story. From the beginning he is portrayed as a predator. His presence made the girl so uneasy that “I shivered when he passed me” (1). His attempt at manipulating people is justified because he provided protective services for them. His end result was death, an outcome that is justified. His bank robbery attempt also resulted in the deaths of Butch and Hoinck. With the passing of these men, the girl and Belle are left alone. Although the end of these men should not have occurred as a result of robbing a bank, justice is served. The means of getting there are wrong, but satisfaction is felt when thinking about how they can no longer bully Belle and the girl.
Amelia is the character who is a strong feminist. She enables the girl who is pregnant and unwilling to abort her baby. Others may have questioned why the girl would want to bring a child into a life of poverty, but Amelia was supportive. She certainly did not show prejudice against the women who used questionable means that resulted in their suffering even more. She recognized that women were abused and led the movement in the Workers Alliance. With her words, the women were riled and worked together:
They get your blood and bones one way or another. What are we? Just goods to be bought and sold? Yes, she answered herself cursing, that’s what they think, buy and sell you and then use your body after you’re dead! It’s too bad, it’s too bad they can’t kill our babies and eat them like suckling pigs. (120)
Le Sueur ends the story with the birth of the girl’s baby. The girl struggled during her pregnancy, but she wanted to give life and feel the unconditional love of a baby. Because of her desire for a child, the relationship with Butch is justified. The life that she has given is the end result that now justifies her means.
The characters in The Girl struggled with their decisions, but they needed to justify their actions as most of us do. Society can judge the women during this era, but Le Sueur presents their life experiences in such a way that they should be included with the “Greatest Generation.”
Le Sueur’s writing style is powerful and draws the reader into this era by using words that affect the senses and emotions. As a result, before reading The Girl, if I was asked whether some of the means used were justified, I would answer one way. However, after reading the book, my answers have changed.
Essay by Leah Bartrum, English 102, Spring 2005
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