Criss Cross

Criss Cross is set in the 1970s in Middle America, although the exact year and location are never stated. The culture of the 1970s plays an important role in the novel’s mood, conflicts, and themes. The decade was defined by sweeping cultural, social, and political change. The end of the 1960s marked the start of “a new tumultuous era […] filled with big events” (“Important Events of the 1970s.” Historic Newspapers). Such events included: the Vietnam War and concurrent Anti-War Movement as news of the death and destruction of the war reached the American public; the end of the Civil Rights Movement following the passing of the Civil Rights Act and the assassination of Martin Luther King; the Gay Liberation Movement, which involved nationwide marches and protests; the Watergate Scandal in which President Nixon’s campaign team was found to have planted listening devices in the Democratic National Committee headquarters, leading to a reduction of trust in the Republican party; the Cold War during which rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union caused widespread suspicion in the West of left-leaning politics; Roe v. Wade which made pregnancy termination a constitutional right; and the emergence of music trends such as punk and disco. These changes in society and culture created a mood of simultaneous unrest and progressive change.

Aspects of the era filter into and inform Debbie’s and her friends’ narrative world in Criss Cross. For example, Debbie is desperate to stay on top of new fashion trends like dressing in “slightly faded bell-bottomed jeans that almost touched the ground, or did touch it, even dragging a little bit” (44). However, her mother disapproves, and this creates tension between them. Further, allusions to driving stick shift, women working secretarial jobs, Helen’s mom sharing Jell-O recipes, and pressure for women to assume more antiquated domestic roles also authenticate the 1970s era in which the novel is set. This tumultuous historical backdrop mirrors the internal tensions and conflicts Debbie and her friends feel as they move from childhood to adulthood.