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Memories of Working Class Girlhoods- Chapter 3 Reading Lives

In chapter three, Janet Frame writes about reading taking her out of her ordinary world. I have a similar memory from by childhood. I went through a stage where I wrote short creative stories as a hobby. I would read for fun. Looking back I think it was a means of escape to another place not because my place was bad, I just longed to see other places. I guess that is what separated me from my sisters. I had a longing for other experiences. I do not know where it came from. It may have come from reading or maybe it was passed down genetically. I see reading for many different purposes. One that is very important is that of escape. Getting lost in a good book is one of the most pleasurable experiences in life. This is what I would like my students in my reading classes to experience. I am convinced that if you find the right book, most people will become hooked.

I think reading is even more important (as a mean of escape) for students who live in isolated areas. I wonder how many kids in my elementary school read for that purpose. Further, I would like to know how many people (I grew up with) still live in the area and what they are doing. Last Easter, I took my daughter to stay with my parents. My sisters and I went out to the local bar one night. There was a guy there that attended the same elementary school I did. He was in my class, and I had not seen him in years. In fact, I did not recognize him, but he recognized me. I was dieing to find out what he was doing with his life. I was a little disappointed to find out that he had not done much. He still lived in the area and said something like the leaves don’t fall far from the trunk or something like that. He did not ask me where I lived or what my life was like. He even introduced me to his girlfriend as the shy girl. I was the shy girl 30 years ago.

He lived in the town and I lived in the country. I have always thought growing up in the country rather than a “rural town” made a difference in my life. I experienced “outdoor life” rather than rural town life. I guess I perceive that there is much more to do and learn about in the “out door life” than the “small town life” I don’t know if this makes sense to anyone but me. I saw a lot of kids get mixed with drugs, alcohol, and sex at a young age in my small town. I always thought it was a lack of other things to do. We had a big wooded area behind my house and there were always things to explore. It seemed that the “small town” kids had more problems in their lives than the country kids. This may have been my perception. Did anyone else have a similar experience?

I think growing up in the rural north and growing up in the rural south must be very different experiences. Some things such as internal dreams and hopes that I had growing up are similar to Laurie’s dreams. I think all children dream of something different from the familiar. I think it is human nature. It would be interesting to do a study comparing the thoughts, dreams, and desires of children from working class rural, working class town, or city to that of their middle counterparts.

Reading can open the doors to experiences and desires for travel and education. I do not remember my sisters ever reading for pleasure at home. This does not mean it did not happen, I just do not remember it. It is interesting that neither of my sisters had the desire to further their education. I wonder if reading was the key element that made me want to go further.

Several years ago my sisters and I were talking about our differences. I mentioned that I always liked to travel as a difference. My sister in the middle said she thought I was extended more opportunities than she or my oldest sister. I replied that we all had the same opportunities, we just chose different paths. The discussion stopped there.

Laura Wollpert