42 pages • 1 hour read
Cassie Dandridge SelleckThe Pecan Man
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2012A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
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Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
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BetaSymbols & Motifs
Ora’s Silverware
As a woman of wealth and privilege, Ora owns many valuable possessions, including the silverware she reserves for special occasions. Because sterling silver is expensive, Ora customarily uses it sparingly because everyday use would make the fine pieces seem ordinary. As they polish the silverware in preparation for Thanksgiving dinner, Ora explains to Blanche’s girls that having such fine things was essential for being a good hostess in the 1950s. She is describing the social expectations for women of a prominent class: fine things to impress others. As Ora explains, making a good impression was essential to reflect well on one’s husband (thus aiding in establishing his reputation as a success in his profession). Because Ora is white, she takes for granted that this custom is correct and normal. Blanche’s girls, however, point out the wastefulness of owning possessions that are seldom used and the futility of polishing them merely to impress others. Because they have been economically disadvantaged, the notion of using one’s possessions to climb a social ladder is foreign to them. Their curiosity about these social practices allows Ora to see the absurdity of her class’s social traditions. Further, Ora’s use of her fine silverware at a meal where her Black friends are present shows that she regards Blanche and her children as her equals and just as deserving of fine things as a person of a higher social class.
Blanche’s Name
As the novel opens, Ora notes that Blanche’s skin is, on a spectrum of skin color, the darkest she has seen. She finds it surprising that her name is the French word for “white.” Blanche’s explanation of her name, which was chosen intentionally, reveals how her name is fraught with irony. She explains that upon her birth, she was quite light skinned, so much so that her father denied paternity and left Blanche’s mother. Blanche never learns what the reader learns: that her father is Eddie Mims. Later, Eddie speaks of the wrongs he has committed in his life and his desire to right them by accepting the punishment for Marcus’s crimes. It is plausible that he has this action in mind, recognizing, once Blanche is an adult, that she is indeed his biological daughter.
Blanche’s mother, because of Blanche’s light skin and her father’s denial of paternity, chose the name Blanche because it means “white.” Its elegance and French roots appealed to her. It conveyed her love for her daughter and communicated the elegance that Blanche’s mother knew she deserved. As Blanche aged, her name became increasingly ironic as her skin grew darker and darker. Indeed, her skin color constantly reminds her of how much of Mayville regards her as a second-class citizen. Though she is initially Ora’s hired employee, the two grow to become friends, and Ora refuses to allow Blanche to wear a housekeeper’s uniform anymore. Blanche stresses, however, that her skin color will continue to suggest to others that she will never be more than a servant.
Soiled Clothing
After Grace is attacked, Blanche wraps her soiled clothing in a paper bag. Ora tells her not to throw away that bag, and Blanche notes that she had not planned to. The clothes, soiled with dirt, blood, and possibly seminal fluid, are vital evidence should Blanche seek to pursue justice for Grace. Though DNA testing is not yet available, the clothes reveal that Grace was attacked. Saving the soiled clothing, then, leaves open the option to pursue justice for Grace. Blanche’s plan to keep the clothing indicates that she is open to the possibility of changing her mind and creates tension in the text. Regardless, the clothes are a reminder of Grace’s trauma that will linger throughout her life; the stains on the clothes parallel the stains on her psyche.
After Marcus kills Skipper, Ora is again faced with the problem of clothing evidence. Certain that the blood can never be cleaned, she decides to burn his clothes in her fireplace. In this way, she does the opposite of Blanche: She erases the evidence of Marcus’s actions. Symbolically, the destroyed clothing indicates Ora’s desire for the event to have never happened—without the clothing as proof, she can, in a sense, convince herself that Marcus is blameless. Both sets of soiled clothing, then, compound the lies that are told in the protection of others. Importantly, Blanche is suspicious when she discovers that Ora has used the fireplace, leaving room for the reader to speculate whether Blanche may suspect that Marcus has indeed committed a crime.
