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Summary
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Women, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Trauma, Healing, and the Vietnam War
Women’s Experiences and Solidarity
Heroism, Honor, and Sacrifice
Propaganda vs. Truth
Shame, Pride, and Moral Ambiguity
Summary
Analysis
In May 1966, on Coronado Island in California, the McGrath estate hosts a lavish party. Twenty-year-old Frances “Frankie” McGrath struggles to maintain her composure, despite her rigorous schooling in social proprieties. The war in Vietnam feels far away, but still she worries. The party is for Frankie’s older brother, Finley, who is late. Frankie idolizes Finley, but he is going somewhere she can’t follow. At last, Finley drunkenly stumbles in with some friends. Frankie’s mother, Bette, comes from old money, and her father is an Irish real estate developer who worked hard to climb the social ladder. Addressing the crowd, they toast Finley’s troublemaking reputation and voice their pride in his “grand adventure.” The guests congregate around Finley.
The novel presents the McGraths as an upstanding, wealthy American family. Yet Frankie already finds it difficult to live up to societal expectations given her conflicted feelings about Finley’s imminent departure, suggesting she feels the need to suppress her true self. While novel maintains intentional ambiguity about Finley’s destination, his parents and their guests clearly view his upcoming journey in a positive light, especially given his history of troublemaking. That Frankie is barred, for the first time, from following her brother on his adventure implies she lacks some necessary qualification.
Themes
Frankie slips into her father’s office. One entire wall is dedicated to family history, mostly photographs and awards belonging to male relatives who served in various wars. Frankie’s father was disqualified for military service and feels ashamed. He's tried to make up for it by building affordable housing for veterans in San Diego. There are no photos of Frankie or Finley. One of Finley’s friends, Rye Walsh, comes in, also hiding from the party. Like Frankie, he’s going to miss Finley. Looking at the photographs, Rye asks why there aren’t more pictures of women. Frankie replies that only sacrificial heroes make it to the wall. Very seriously, Rye tells her “Women can be heroes,” and he insists the world is changing.
Dad’s heroes’ wall emphasizes how Frankie’s family has valorized (male) military service. Dad’s own inability to serve seems to have amplified his dedication to honoring veterans. In noting her and Finley’s absence from the wall, Frankie feels a clear need to prove herself worthy of her father’s praise. Like Frankie, Rye feels less positive about Finley’s departure. His remark that women can be heroes just like men illuminates Frankie’s ingrained sexism and urges her to consider new perspectives on gender and heroism.
Themes
Frankie thinks about Rye’s words for hours. She has never considered women as capable of heroism. Frankie is studying to be a nurse, though her mother claims she can only work until she gets married. The party winds down, and Frankie sneaks across the street to Coronado Beach, considering how her future might take a different path. Finley joins Frankie. Unwilling to pretend excitement, Frankie asks if he’s sure about Vietnam. Finley quotes President Kennedy about serving one’s country. He insists he’ll be safe as a naval officer. Everyone seems to agree that communism must be stopped. The news reports little bloodshed. But when Finley says he’ll miss her, Frankie can tell he’s as scared to go to war as she is to lose him.
Frankie’s conservative upbringing has taught her that, while men can aim for heroism, women should focus on marriage and family. Hearing Rye challenge these traditional gender roles upends Frankie’s worldview and invites her to imagine a different future for herself. Frankie feels comfortable voicing her honest concerns about Vietnam to Finley, highlighting their close relationship. While Finley parrots what others have said about the honor of military service and the relative safety of American troops in Vietnam, he (like Frankie) doesn’t seem to believe what he is saying, hinting at a discrepancy between media reportage and the truth.
Themes
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