Familiaris

Familiaris is set against the backdrop of World War I and Prohibition, two historical events that shape the book’s plot and characters.

World War I, also known as the Great War, began in 1914 in Europe when the Central Powers—led by Germany and Austria-Hungary—fought against the Allied Powers, which included Britain, France, and Russia. At the onset of World War I, United States President Woodrow Wilson asserted that the country would remain neutral. However, by 1917, the US declared war on Germany, entering on the side of the Allied Powers. Wilson made this decision following rising tensions and increasing provocations from Germany, including the sinking of the Lusitania that killed 120 American citizens on board (“U.S. Participation in the Great War.” Library of Congress).

Quickly, thousands of American men were drafted into the military and began intensive combat training. Women who previously did not work outside the home took factory jobs to produce supplies necessary for the war effort and served in the ambulance corps and the American Red Cross. Children sold war bonds or planted victory gardens to contribute their support. With over 1 million US troops sent to Europe, soldiers “encountered a war unlike any other” fought in trenches and the air and marked by new military technologies such as the tank, telephone, and poison gas (“U.S. Participation in the Great War”).

Although fighting ended in 1918, the transition to postwar life proved difficult for many soldiers, as they returned home changed in significant physical and psychological ways. Some 224,000 soldiers faced injuries that prevented them from continuing on the front, and roughly 4,400 returned from war missing part of or an entire limb. Beyond physical injuries that led to permanent physical disability, soldiers experienced serious psychological trauma, with 100,000 soldiers removed due to psychological injuries—40,000 of them discharged—and thousands later undergoing treatment for mental health conditions in American veterans’ hospitals, termed at the time as “war neurosis” or “shell shock” (Reft, Ryan. “World War I: Injured Veterans and the Disability Rights Movement.” Library of Congress, 2017). As World War I veteran and former infantry officer Robert S. Marx highlighted, “[A] man could not go through that conflict and come back and take his place as a normal human being” (Reft). The psychological trauma World War I veterans experienced laid the groundwork for what today is referred to as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The physical and psychological trauma of war is most apparent in Familiaris in Frank Eckling’s character, who experiences significant physical and psychological scars due to his service. His struggles adjusting back to civilian life and the emotional distance he experiences between himself and other characters allow Wroblewski to highlight World War I’s effects on personal relationships, physical ability, and mental health.

Prohibition is another critical historical backdrop in which the narrative occurs. Prohibition began in 1920 after the 18th Amendment to the US Constitution, which banned the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcohol, was enacted with the passage of the Volstead Act. Prohibition resulted due to a confluence of factors: religious revivalism’s calls for temperance, negative views of saloon culture, and some factory workers’ desire to prevent accidents and increase productivity (“Prohibition.” History, 2023). Despite the illegal nature of all alcohol, Prohibition proved incredibly difficult to enforce. Bootlegging, the illegal production and sale of liquor, and speakeasies, illegal drinking locations, began to proliferate, leading to many producing, procuring, and consuming alcohol in clandestine manners. Support for Prohibition waned by the end of the 1920s due to its associated rise in violence and crime, and the 21st Amendment formally ended Prohibition (“Prohibition”).

In Familiaris, Prohibition impacts the characters’ lives, bringing both personal and social challenges. The realist historical backdrop of Familiaris grounds the story in a specific time and place that provides further context for the characters’ actions and choices. Wroblewski’s decision to incorporate these historical elements into the plot and the narrative’s characters serves to highlight how significant events, such as war or restrictive policies, influence personal experiences in integral ways, further driving its plot, themes, and character development.