The Women: Chapter 19 Summary & Analysis

Frankie has nightmares about Vietnam so intense that she falls out of bed. She wakes disoriented. Her parents’ house reminds her of the proper lady she used to be. Frankie sits on the beach, talking to Finley. Later, she writes to Barb about the protesters at the airport and her parents’ chilly reception. Mom wakes her the next morning with a plan to fix her tired appearance. She won’t talk about Dad, who claims to still be in shock due to Frankie’s sudden reappearance. At the salon, Frankie’s usual hairdresser is visibly disgusted by her mention of serving in Vietnam. She tells the hairdresser not to give her any of “that girlie shit,” prompting Mom to scold her for using bad language.

Frankie and Mom have lunch at the Coronado country club. Mom drinks despite the early hour. An elderly man, Dr. Brenner, approaches the table and asks Frankie how Florence was. The sound of glass breaking startles Frankie, who falls to the floor, mistaking it for an explosion. She apologizes, telling Dr. Brenner she just returned from Vietnam, which he denies—there are no women in the war. Frankie realizes Mom and Dad lied told everyone she was studying abroad, ashamed of her service. Frankie makes a scene and storms out of the club, returning home alone. She writes to Rye about her intense fury and how she is waiting for him to come home.

Later, Frankie finds her parents in the living room, drinking and smoking. Dad looks disapproving at Frankie’s sloppy appearance. She sarcastically remarks on her studies in Florence, but he isn’t sorry for lying. Frankie helps herself to a cigarette and Mom asks when she began smoking. Frankie tells her parents about MASCALs and how smoking helped her hands stop shaking. Dad interrupts, saying no one wants to hear about Vietnam. Mom agrees—the war is over for Frankie. Frankie’s need to make them understand what she went through is overwhelming. Frankie accuses Dad of holding his son and daughter to different standards. Wondering if her parents have always been this broken, Frankie runs to the beach and screams.

Frankie writes another letter to Rye about her parents’ refusal to listen and her traumatic nightmares. She imagines living with Rye in the country. After two weeks at home, Frankie and her parents have established an uneasy truce. When she can’t swallow her anger, Frankie turns to drinking. Waking from a dream of Mai and the orphanage in flames, Frankie calls Barb. Sensing her friend’s distress, Barb encourages Frankie to push through. She suggests throwing a party for Rye’s homecoming. The idea motivates Frankie to drive to Compton without telling her parents and meet Rye’s father at his auto repair shop. On the way, she sings along to songs she remembers from Vietnam.

Compton is impoverished and run down since the Watts riots in 1965. The neighborhood is predominantly Black and many stores, including Rye’s father’s auto repair, are out of business. Frankie understands why Rye felt uncomfortable in Coronado. Frankie tries the office door and finds Rye’s father, Stanley, watching TV. Introducing herself, Frankie starts to discuss a homecoming party for Rye. Stanley interrupts and produces a telegram he received three days prior, stating that Rye has been killed in action. Frankie takes the telegram and drives home in a state of shock.

Frankie sits numbly in her bedroom until Mom knocks on the door. Frankie screams at her before breaking down into sobs. She tells Mom about falling in love with Rye and his death. Mom holds her. Dad appears and Mom tells him Frankie has lost a close friend. He doesn’t care. Two days later, Frankie dreams of Rye’s helicopter getting shot down over the jungle. She wakes but doesn’t know what to do with herself. Mom comes in, and Frankie hates her mother’s worried looks. She asks Mom how to stop loving Rye. Mom says it will get better over time and that Rye would want Frankie to live. Frankie finds no comfort in such platitudes.