96 pages • 3 hours read
Sherri L. SmithFlygirl
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2009A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Themes
Civic Duty During Wartime
After Thomas enlists in the war, Ida and her family do everything they can to help the war efforts back at home. In addition to rationing food, they collect bacon grease, silk stockings, and spare tires to donate, which can all be used by the military. To Ida, it “seems there’s a different way to help out every day” (24). However, as the war continues, Ida feels as though she isn’t doing enough. She tells her friend Jolene “[W]e sit here hoarding sugar and saving rubber, like that’s gonna make a difference” (25). When Ida decides to become a WASP, she feels as though she’s doing her part to help the war efforts. When asked why she became a WASP, Ida frequently offers the same civic rationale: “[M]y country needed me” (257). She tells her brother Thomas of her motivation to join:“[I]t was just so hard, sitting on my hands, waiting for you to come home. So, I joined the fight the only way I could” (197). Ida feels as though it is her civic duty to help the war efforts, and flying is the best way she knows how.
However, this raises the question of whether the United States really needs Ida, or any individual,like Ida likes to think. When her family first begins collecting items to donate, Ida’s mother “likes to think Thomas has helped some wounded soldiers with the grease she donates at the butcher’s shop” (24). Feeling as though their efforts are directly helping their loved ones makes it easier for individuals to make sacrifices during wartime. By the end of the novel, Ida’s mother has become less optimistic, and she points out to Ida:“Uncle Sam doesn’t need you. Uncle Sam doesn’t need anyone in particular.He just takes whoever he can get and tosses them up to the slaughter” (211). Even when Ida tells a WASP who trained with her that she became a WASP because her country needed her, the woman responds:“Really? Did the army ask for you? Did President Roosevelt send you a letter requesting your help?” (258). Toward the beginning of the novel, Ida and her family feel as though they are directly helping the war efforts, but as the war continues, they begin to wonder how much they’re really needed as individuals, and how much they’re really helping to bring about the end of the war. Ida often asks herself what responsibility she has as an individual citizen to the war efforts.
Racial Identity and Segregation
Ida wonders if she is giving up part of her identity by passing as white, and therefore lying about her identity. When she first interviews to become a WASP, she notes:“I don’t feel white, but I do feel less like Ida Mae” (43). Finally, she decides that she knows herself, despite any role she may play: “[E]ven if I’m playing at being white, even if I paint myself blue, I am still the child of my parents, still that little girl who loves her brother and loves to fly” (47). However, even though Ida feels confident that she can stay true to herself even while passing as white, her mother warns her that it won’t be as simple as she thinks, telling Ida: “[Y]ou cross that line, you cannot cross back just as you please” (56). Ida knows of other women who passed as white and began treating other black people differently as a result. Her father’s mother, Grandmère Boudreaux, who passes as white, refuses to have a relationship with Ida’s mother’s family. Ida’s former classmate, Janice, and her cousin Stevia wouldn’t let Jolene attend a party because of her dark skin. Ida knows that she “never wanted to be like Janice Johnson or her cousin Stevia” (35), rejecting her own friends and family.
Although Ida doesn’t understand her mother’s warning at first, she faces some obstacles while passing as white that she couldn’t have anticipated. When her mother comes to visit her while she is training to become a WASP, Ida must pretend that her mother is her maid so that no one will be suspicious, which makes Ida feel embarrassed and ashamed. Later, Ida gets into a fight with Jolene and accuses Jolene of being jealous that she can pass as white and Jolene cannot. By the end of the novel, Jolene and Ida still aren’t speaking. Ida tries to stay true to herself and her identity, yet she faces unexpected struggles as she lies about her race.
Not only does Ida struggle on an individual level with her identity, she also knows that she could face greater dangers due to the segregation and discrimination that was prevalent in the United States during the 1940s. In order to become a WASP, Ida must pass as white since black women were not allowed to join this program. Ida knows that she could get into a lot of trouble if it is discovered that she is not white. While passing as white, she sits in the 'Whites Only' section of the train, visits a 'Whites Only' bar, and dances with Instructor Jenkins, even though it is illegal for a black woman to dance with a white man. Not only could it be dangerous for Ida if it is discovered that she is black, but she often wonders if her friends at the WASP training base would accept her if they knew the truth. Grandy warns Ida: “You’ve got to be extra careful not to slip up. They won’t take kindly to it in Texas” (62), underlining the potential danger that Ida could face.
Gender Roles and Bias in the 1940s
Not everyone thinks women should be able to join the military or become pilots. Ida first experiences this when she tries to get her pilot’s license before the war has even begun. Although she flies beautifully, the instructor refuses to pass a woman. As Ida is training to become a WASP, one of her instructors, Instructor Martin, tells the women:“You’ve left your husbands and children at home to be here, and while I can’t approve of that choice, I can make sure that you still know your place in this man’s army” (90). The women continue to face obstacles because of their gender; many of the army bases don’t have proper barracks for women, and the government refuses to officially militarize the WASP program. When Lily and Ida are invited to fly the B-29 bomber, a dangerous and difficult experimental plane, they realize only after they’ve completed the flight that many people didn’t think women could do it, and they were simply invited to fly the plane to prove a point. Even though Ida feels confident that being a WASP is the best thing she can do to help her country, her friends and family back home don’t always agree. Jolene tells Ida:“Men do the fighting, Ida Mae. Women take care of the home. You can be proud of that. It’s enough” (26). This echoes Ida’s brother, Thomas, who feels that Ida should have stayed home and helped the family on the farm. Ida and the other WASP are constantly trying to prove that women can be great pilots, an obstacle that Ida struggles to overcome throughout the novel.
