Essay Questions

Why was Jenny forced to quit her job when she got pregnant?

The society in the 1940s was completely different from the way society is today. If nowadays it is considered completely normal to have sexual relationships with someone outside marriage, this was not acceptable in the time when the novel was set. Things became even worst when a woman who was unmarried got pregnant and she was not married to the father of her child. Unwed mothers were considered almost like prostitutes and they were at times shunned by their families and cut off financially. If a woman had no family to take care of her, that woman most likely ended up in a house for unwed mothers run by various religious groups that had the purpose of reforming the sinful woman. Unwed mothers were seen as a bad influence on other pious women and thus, when it was clear that they were pregnant, they had to isolate themselves from the rest of the society until they gave birth.

How does Jenny's mother handle Jenny's possible pregnancies?

After Jenny punched the soldier who groped her at the cinema, her mother believed that he daughter was engaging in promiscuous activities and sleeping around with men. To help her avoid having an unwanted pregnancy, Jenny’s mother gave her a douche bag, a device used in the past to clean the vagina with a mixture of water and other chemicals. In the past, it was widely believed that vaginal douching could prevent unwanted pregnancies but it has been since proven not to be true.

How does the term "rubber" confuse Garp?

During the first sexual intercourse between Cushie and Garp, she asked him whether he has a rubber they can use. Initially, Garp was confused by the term but he later understood that the term referred to a condom.