Witchcraft for Wayward Girls

“‘Young lady,’” Miss Wellwood said, ‘look at me when I am speaking to you. Are you capable of having a productive conversation?’”

As her abrupt form of address suggests, Miss Wellwood is a stern, sour, and disrespectful person who does not treat the girls with respect. Instead, she judges them harshly for having gotten pregnant outside of marriage. Her blatant contempt represents the scorn that society as a whole heaped upon unwed mothers during the first half of the 20th century, and it is evident in her first meeting with Neva that she is meant to be an antagonistic figure.

“The Bible is a handbook for teaching the violent oppression of third-world peoples.”

Rose speaks this line at the dinner table just before being sent to her room by Miss Wellwood. Rose is a hippie whose passion for social justice, astrology, and women’s liberation puts her at odds with Miss Wellwood and society as a whole. She has a strong personality and often stands up for herself in situations where the other girls are more likely to keep quiet out of a sense of self-preservation.

“Fern surrendered to the home. It was a machine that took in wayward girls and put out adoptable babies, and it operated according to one principle: a strict schedule disciplined lazy minds.”

The novel’s depiction of homes for unwed mothers accurately represents the conditions in many maternity homes that operated before the passing of Roe v. Wade. Girls like Fern were not given help, support, or counseling. Instead, their bodily autonomy was severely limited, and they were forced to give up their children for adoption. In addition to keeping the girls hidden during their pregnancies and adopting out their babies, the ultimate goal of this program was to force the girls to internalize the deeply patriarchal notion that they were sinful and in need of “saving” and redirection toward more socially acceptable habits.

“Fern was amazed at how quickly the outside world disappeared.”

Isolation is a key facet of Miss Wellwood’s approach to running her home for unwed mothers. By cutting the girls off from society, she and the staff endeavor to hide the girls’ “shame”—their pregnant status—from the surrounding community. This approach reinforces the idea that there is something intrinsically wrong with the girls, intensifying their alienation from the outside world.

“‘Solidarity,’ Rose said, as she left the dining room.”

In this scene, Rose has just finished Fern’s liver-and-milk shake to spare Fern the experience of having to choke down the vile concoction on Dr. Vincent’s orders. The two girls have not had a close relationship before this moment—given that Fern shares the other girls’ dislike of Rose. However, at this moment, Rose shows Fern a different side of her personality, and her gesture explicitly introduces the novel’s thematic focus on Solidarity Among Women, especially during trying circumstances.

“Fern and Zinnia spent the weekend talking about what books they’d read and what they were going to check out and how Fern didn’t read enough Black writers and how Zinnia needed to read more Kurt Vonnegut.”

Fern and Zinnia initially bond over their shared love of reading. In a place that seeks to strip them of both their identities and their pasts, their friendship feels like an act of resistance, and discussing literature allows them to explore a myriad of unique ideas about life and the world. As they get to know one another, they affirm each other’s individuality and form a bond that defies the strict measures of control implemented by the staff at Wellwood Home.

“This is a brutal book, because this is a book about power: where to find it and where to use it.”

This line comes from How to Be a Groovy Witch, the spell book that Miss Parcae lends to Fern. As the girls begin experimenting with the arcane powers of witchcraft, they find a unique way to overcome the systematic oppression of their current circumstances. Society, their parents, and Wellwood Home have all conspired to disempower the girls, stripping them of even the right to make decisions about their own bodies. The girls are therefore drawn to witchcraft because it is a way for them to fight back against the various forces that not only control them but also stigmatize and shame them.

“I was taking the pill. I took one every single time, but I guess they didn’t work.”

Without access to reliable information about women’s health, particularly contraception, many young women became pregnant by accident during the era in which this novel is set. In this scene, Zinnia recounts her attempts to stave off pregnancy by taking a contraceptive pill each time she had sex—rather than once a day as they are prescribed. The broader purpose of the novel is to draw attention to the many ways in which patriarchal societies disenfranchise women. Zinnia’s ignorance of her own body and women’s health in general reflects the inhibitive nature of patriarchal society in the 1970s. These issues were among the many problems that second-wave feminism and the women’s liberation movement sought to address.

“‘And one day my baby will turn eight.’ Holly said to the grass. ‘And The Reverend Jerry won’t shine his light on me anymore. He’ll have someone new to shine it on.’”

Historically, even women who became pregnant as a result of rape were blamed for their “conditions.” Holly’s plight therefore represents real-world cases in which girls who were targeted by serial child predators were not given support or counseling after being impregnated by their abusers. Additionally, Hendrix also draws attention to the fact that many of those abusers were never prosecuted. Within the novel, Holly’s abuser is her church’s pastor, and rather than being punished for his actions, he fully intends to adopt her daughter. Holly is terrified that he will repeat his abuse with her child as well. By depicting moments like this one, the novel draws attention to the gross injustices that catalyzed the women’s movements of the 1960s and 1970s.

“The only people that are going to help Holly are us. Not that old librarian, not Miss Wellwood, not Miss Keller.”

Solidarity among women is one of the novel’s most important and overt themes. Although the girls are discouraged from making friends, they do form strong bonds with one another as they struggle to survive their shared plight. Additionally, they become a cohesive support system for one another. In this scene, Rose argues that because all of the adults in Holly’s life have failed to protect her from abuse or to hold her abuser accountable, the only people that she can reasonably rely on are the girls themselves.

“I’m supposed to be her mother, and I didn’t even hold out forty-eight hours and she’ll grow up and never know I loved her. She’ll never know I existed. She’ll think I threw her away like trash.”

Part of the social stigma against adolescent girls who became pregnant came from the idea that they were too young to be competent mothers. Rose represents the many young women who would have chosen to keep their babies and who, if given education and support, could have provided their children with loving homes. Now, there are many programs in place to teach parenting skills to young mothers, but in the 1970s, the kind of homes for unwed mothers depicted in this novel were common.

“We’re loathed and despised in every time, every country, and every culture.”

Here, the women in Miss Parcae’s coven note that witches have always been hated because they are seen as representatives of female power in patriarchal societies that would rather see them subjugated. Witches therefore represent the threat that women pose to society when they do not accept their second-class roles. The bitterness evinced by the women in Miss Parcae’s coven reflects this injustice, and their resolute tone suggests that they doggedly hold onto their autonomy and power despite society’s disapproval.

“A real witch is never alone.”

The novel’s treatment of witchcraft is ambiguous, but one way to read the importance of witchcraft is as part of the story’s thematic interest in solidarity. Witchcraft becomes a way for the girls to connect and form deep, lasting bonds despite Miss Wellwood’s efforts to isolate and separate them. Although they are discouraged from sharing their likes, interests, and stories, Fern, Rose, Zinnia, and Holly come together through witchcraft and end up finding true friendship as a result.

“Miss Wellwood looked down on Rose, beaming in triumph: another girl rescued and redeemed.”

Miss Wellwood is a woman who has fully internalized the oppressive strictures of patriarchal society. When she looks at Rose, she sees nothing more than an immoral girl who chose a life of sin. Now, because Rose has been coerced into giving up her baby, Miss Wellwood hopes that she will be ready to reenter society and make better choices. Miss Wellwood’s thoughts reflect a harmful, limited worldview that fails to acknowledge Rose’s intelligence and intense desire to be a mother.

“In me lives my mother, and her mother before her, and on, back and back.”

Although the novel’s treatment of witchcraft is ambiguous, Hendrix does note that witchcraft offers a form of solidarity among women and can be the source of female empowerment. Here, the witches note that they contain all of the knowledge of past generations of women, and they pass that knowledge on to the younger generation. By acknowledging that women have a wealth of wisdom that deserves to survive, the witches collectively defy the limitations of patriarchal society.

“‘It held,’ said Hagar. ‘Nothing can cross silver, this nonsense is done.’”

Hagar is a complex character, for although she has an innate knowledge of witchcraft, she also chooses to work as a cook at Wellwood Home, thereby implicitly supporting the patriarchal structures that the home represents. However, although she does not want to go out of her way to help the girls, she does have a vested interest in preventing witchcraft from harming the people at Wellwood. Ultimately, she is an “unruly” female figure who makes her own choices and answers to no one. As such, she is one of the novel’s key figures of female empowerment.

“All the girls were excited and terrified of another night at the mercy of a possible intruder. They talked about the Miami strangler or where they were when the news about Manson came on.”

The various counterculture movements of the 1960s and 1970s are a key backdrop to this novel. However, these shreds of historical context intrude on the narrative only sporadically and are spoken of in hushed tones. This approach reinforces the fact that the girls are cloistered and shut away from the world. Although massive cultural upheavals are happening all over the country, the home’s staff members do their best to keep all knowledge of these events from their charges.

“Things like that are a real shame. They say it’s a generation gap, but I don’t know.”

Even as Fern arrives at the hospital, overwhelmed by her labor pains, she is still subject to judgment. Moments like this illustrate how much social stigma was attached to teenage pregnancy. As the details of Fern’s hospital experience unfold, it becomes clear that she and other girls in similar situations become the target of individual cruelties and wholesale prejudice.

“‘She’s my daughter.’ Fern said. ‘I’m her mother. Mothers don’t give away their children.’”

One of the tactics used by both the girls’ parents and the staff of the home for unwed mothers is to convince the girls that they are unfit to be mothers. With the proper education and support, Fern could parent her child, but that option is denied to her. In this scene, Fern thinks of herself as a mother and knows that she is capable of providing her baby with vital care. Although she is ultimately coerced into giving up her child, these few moments she spends with her daughter prove to her that she is responsible enough to be a mother.

“Now she’d seen Myrtle have her baby in the bathroom, and learned about Reverend Jerry, and seen what they did to Rose, and she had failed her daughter and learned the truth about witches. How could she ever care about high school again?”

This cascade of traumatic images is designed to emphasize just how profoundly Fern’s experiences at Wellwood have changed her outlook on the world. Faced with the impossible task of returning to an ill-fitting adolescent role, she must find a way to come to terms with the fact that mainstream society will never honor or acknowledge who she has become. Her rhetorical question—“How could she ever care about high school again?”—also suggests that the bland lessons of the educational system have nothing of value to teach her, given all that her circumstances have forced her to learn on her own.

“Hagar snarled, ‘They don’t see these girls. I can’t tell you how much they don’t see these girls.’”

Here, Hagar angrily tells the cab driver that no one cares about the well-being of pregnant teenage girls. Her bitter exclamation proves that she understands the social stigma of pregnancy outside of marriage, and she also understands that society tries to pretend that young, unmarried girls never get pregnant. Although Hagar is a complex character who does not always want to help the girls, she does do her best to treat them with humanity and dignity, unlike the rest of the staff at the home.

“Zinnia had saved them. Fern had brought the storm and almost killed them, but Zinnia kept them alive.

Even in moments when one girl falters, another is there to help and support the group. Here, Zinnia saves Holly and her baby even though Fern has unwittingly put them in danger. The passage reflects the novel’s thematic focus on solidarity among women, indicating that the girls have bonded so tightly that they are willing to risk their safety to protect one another and to help make up for each other’s mistakes.

“When I got home it was just like they said. No one cared. No one cared where I’d been. No one cared about Charlie Brown.”

Because of the social stigma attached to teen pregnancy, Fern is left to process her grief alone when she returns to mainstream society, and the indifference that she encounters drives home the fact that she is an unvalued member of a patriarchal society that has no use for anyone who breaks its harsh rules. She has just gone through a traumatic experience, but it is one that her parents want to forget, and they therefore offer her no more support than they did when she first became pregnant. Because adoption is commonly seen as the only option for girls in Fern’s situation, no one in her life realizes that giving her baby up is a profound loss in her eyes.