49 pages • 1 hour read
Adele MyersThe Tobacco Wives
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Societal Constraints and Female Empowerment
Myers weaves the tension between societal constraints and female empowerment throughout the novel. Each female character experiences moments of gender-based limitation at the hands of individual men in power or more general patriarchal structures, but each woman ultimately finds a way to subvert male control and find empowerment through work and agency.
Myers portrays each of her female characters in a wide variety of circumstances to illustrate the fullness of the female experience despite societal constraints. Women do not simply embody a single characteristic, role, or function in the novel and Myers presents several examples of this. As a pioneer at Bright Leaf Tobacco as the sole female auctioneer, Ashely values her career and autonomy but is also a wife and mother. She imparts advice to Maddie about the importance of individual accomplishment and exemplifies emerging options for women in business when she founds an organization solely for women. Cornelia, a resilient woman who is well-read on women’s activism and feminist theory, is still at the mercy of her own sons to give her a position on the board or directors. Though she was not able to claim credit for her ideas that led to the town’s prosperity, Cornelia positions Maddie to ascend to positions of leadership by introducing her to Virginia Woolf and the concept of knowledge as power. Both women serve as examples to Maddie of the power of pushing back against societal constraints and the hope for a more equal future.
In contrast to the wealthy women in the novel, the female factory workers are responsible for keeping production running while the men are away but must do so under brutal and dangerous conditions, risking their health. When they are at risk of losing their jobs once the men return, they are empowered to organize, using their collective power to challenge the unfair wages, working conditions, and expectations of male executives who seek to remove them from employment. Through them, Myers highlights the intersections of oppression that cause different societal constraints for each woman.
Ultimately, Myers portrays her female characters threatening and undermining structures of male control. This signals the power of women to exert significant influence despite societal limits.
The Contrast Between the Opulent Façade and Hidden Realities of Society
Myers illustrates the contrast between the opulent façade and hidden realities of society through advertisements and the discrepancies between rich and poor. While Etta tells Maddie that MOMints are “the first special cigarette for women” created by women “running the factory lines” for the first time (50), it is also true that these women are subject to dangerous working conditions, resulting in bloody fingers and red welts on their arms. While they are proud to create the cigarettes, the cost is high. Despite the reality at the factory, where cigarettes are made from scraps on the floor and then sold to the public, the advertising plan for MOMints is skillfully crafted using an appealing green, beautiful pastoral imagery, and pictures of white women and children. These advertisements are a lens through which to view misogynistic and white supremacist values. Mr. Winston’s advertisement plan uses the prettiest and most prominent wives of Bright Leaf to sell cigarettes despite risking their health and that of the injured and sick factory workers, suggesting that he values their polished image—and their subjugation—more than their happiness. Myers hence explores the way that the tobacco industry intentionally and systematically presented an opulent façade to vulnerable populations—including women, people of color, young people, people with low income, and the LBGTQ community—in order to profit.
The opulent façade of Bright Leaf—the extravagant and comfortable lives of the town’s wealthiest citizens—is built on a hidden reality: the labor of skilled hands and blue-collar workers in the fields and factories. The imagery of Maddie in the bath is an example of this theme: When Maddie bathes in her lavish suite at the Winstons’ house after visiting the factory, Myers juxtaposes luxury and grime—the contrast between how things appear on the outside and what they actually are underneath. Maddie is engulfed in outward beauty in a bubble bath, but the dirt and grime from horrific conditions at the factory won’t come off because those realities cannot be erased.
Similarly, there are multiple mentions of the contrast that Maddie sees between war rationing and living in excess; for the wealthiest in Bright Leaf, there seems to be no shortage of goods and supplies to maintain an affluent life. For example, Maddie is offered food and drinks that she hasn’t had in years and feels uncomfortable wearing fine clothing when she knows that there are so many going without. When she sees that her sewing studio at the Winstons’ is filled with every material imaginable, she recalls collecting scrap metal for the war effort. Bright Leaf’s elite members express no discomfort in living lavishly, and Myers juxtaposes their approach and Maddie’s moral aversion to living in excess. As Maddie comes to understand the discrepancies between rich and poor, she has conversations with other working-class people like Etta and Anthony, who explain to her that people like Rose hate to be reminded of their lives before they had money. This highlights the efforts of the wealthy to maintain the opulent façade and obscure the harm on which their wealth depends.
Myers’s exploration of this theme highlights the disconnect in a town where some people thrive off a cash crop dependent on the labor of others, especially women, people of color, and those in poverty.
The Moral Dilemma of Uncovering Uncomfortable Truths
One of the central conflicts of the novel is Maddie’s accidental discovery of damning information that Mr. Winston and Dr. Hale want to keep hidden. Maddie is more than just curious about the contents of the letter before she opens it; she is inspired by words she read in a book from Cornelia: “the withholding of knowledge is an act of oppression” (155). These words encompass a central tenet of the text: The withholding of information about cigarettes from Bright Leaf’s consumers and workers puts them at great risk. Maddie’s actions after uncovering an uncomfortable truth demonstrate her strong conviction and moral compass and her commitment to resisting male authority and highlight the importance of telling the truth despite discomfort.
Maddie’s first response after reading the letter is one of disbelief, confusion, and fear. Myers highlights the power imbalances that prevent people from speaking the truth since Maddie risks her livelihood and that of her aunt by telling the secret. Maddie’s moral dilemma also extends beyond herself as she worries about others in the town if Bright Leaf Tobacco were to go away; she thinks about the maids, waitresses, store owners, teachers, and workers like Anthony who would be out of employment. Her concerns for the health of the women and babies whom she sees in the hospital is ultimately what pushes her to uncover the truth.
Maddie realizes that people are hesitant to believe that Dr. Hale and Mr. Winston are capable of such deception because they are trusted and prolific figures in town, and they are protected by patriarchal privilege. This further underscores the risks of exposing truth. However, she is not afraid to push back against these conventions with Anthony and David. Myers hence suggests that protecting others by exposing truth is important despite discomfort. Maddie knows they must outwit Dr. Hale, if possible, by playing on his ego and appealing to him in his professional capacity. Indeed, he references his influence and power to intimate Maddie, calling her “a child who needs to know her place” (269). Despite watching Dr. Hale’s “false patience and kindness [be] replaced by rage” (269), she finds the courage to meet his gaze.
Maddie wants others in Bright Leaf to resist in the same way, and the fact that Mitzy doesn’t completely expose her husband until after his death highlights the complexities of being faced with moral dilemmas. Mitzy tells Maddie that “[s]ometimes we have limited choices or no choice at all” when it comes to intricate matters (322), especially for women, but decades later she admits that she didn’t have the courage to do the truly right thing. By contrasting Maddie and Mitzy, Myers suggests the importance of having the moral conviction to uncover an uncomfortable truth.
