October 21, 2016 - 16:40
Suzan-Lori Parks’ novel, Getting Mother’s Body follows the travels of Billy Beede, a 16-year-old girl searching for money to use to get an abortion. Every chapter of the book is from a different character’s perspective and shows a continual progression of the story. One of the most commonly seen narrators is Billy and many of the other characters speak to give insight on Billy’s life. As all these different characters get their chance to express their ideas and move the story along, the question arises about whether they are all individualized characters, or if Parks is the only real narrator. I believe that even though the author speaks for all of the different characters, they all have unique voices.
As Billy’s travels progress, she is forced to answer many important questions about her own life and challenge beliefs. However, many other characters do not always agree with her decisions, especially regarding what happens with her baby. Throughout most of the novel, Billy is very set on getting jewelry from her dead mother and using it to get money to use to get an abortion, but June is very against this and she proposes other options. Billy and June are two main characters created by the same author, but they portray very different personality traits, giving them individuality. They have their own ideas, they don’t express Parks’ ideas. June starts a conversation, “’Having children is a blessing,’ I says. Billy rolls her eyes at me and looks away…’I ain’t having this baby,’ Billy says. ‘Don’t talk like that,’ I says…’I could raise it,’ I says. ‘I wouldn’t mind.’” (Parks 131). In this situation, June is trying to make Billy understand the value of having a baby. The fact that June tells Billy that she would take the baby and raise it shows a higher level of maturity. June is willing to act as a parent figure for a baby that is not hers because she believes that it should not die. She sees this as an opportunity and wants to run with it. On the other hand, Billy is very direct and stubborn. She wants to get rid of the baby because she thinks that not having the baby will make her forget Snipes for forever. She believes that Snipes is the root of all of her problems and that if she has his baby, it is like she is keeping a part of him in her life. Billy wants to wipe Snipes from her mind and life. June tries to help Billy understand that there is more to having the baby than she realizes, but Billy isn’t buying it. These completely different views about Billy’s baby shows how these two characters have very different personalities and beliefs. They have their own individual voices; they do not just mimic the ideas of the author.
Many of the characters speak using different dialects, showing another side of their individuality. In one Roosevelt’s narratives he has a conversation with June, “’He wants to run this filling station,’ I says. ‘We’ll be back in plenty of time,’ she says. ‘Gonzales wanna run a filling station he gonna have to run one someplace else.’” (Parks 123). This is a very direct example of small things said in different ways. Roosevelt said “wants to” while June said “wanna.” This simple example can say a lot about a character. One main observation is their difference in education levels. Roosevelt has a higher level of education and this is evident through his grammar which is clearly better than June’s grammar. These different styles of speaking are very clear to the reader because they are exaggerated and show their personalities. There is also a common theme throughout many of the characters from the same family. They have similar backgrounds and upbringings, resulting in similar speech.
It could be argued that Parks’ characters do not have unique voices because all of their language is formed by the same author. I do not believe that this is true because all of thecharacters are very extreme and have so many different beliefs. As the story progresses, it is evident that Billy is the main character. A lot of the chapters are from her perspective and when another character is speaking, most of the time they are talking about Billy’s life. The whole book revolves around Billy. At the same time, I do not believe that Parks’ beliefs are in accordance with Billy. This shows that she creates characters without the influence of her own ideas, supporting a whole different side to the characters’ individuality. There is no bias because the reader hears all sides to the story. All perspectives are expressed through the different characters’ narratives. If there are differing ideas on the same topic, they will be clearly expressed.
It is evident that all of the characters in Getting Mother’s Body, have their own personalities, styles of speaking, and identities. Parks does not use her created characters to express her own beliefs and ideas, rather the characters help her explore new personas. As some people argue that the author’s voice is in all of her characters, I believe that Parks is very disconnected from the feelings of her characters. The way that the novel is laid out, allows the reader to experience the events from many different perspectives. It is possible to witness the reactions of the characters because the reader is out into their head. Since Billy Beede is the main character, most of the interesting reactions that are evident, pertain to her situation with her baby and her next steps to figure out how to pursue an abortion.
Parks, Suzan-Lori. Getting Mother's Body: A Novel. New York: Random House, 2003. Print.