Charms For The Easy Life, By Thomas C. Foster: An Analysis

One of the constants in life is that there is always meaning. Without meaning, mankind struggles to set itself apart from the beasts, it loses it’s way, and so it creates meaning in every aspect of it’s existence. Whether it’s as momentous as leading a nation, or as simple as a kind word to a friend, man always trusts that there is a reason for it’s actions, that there’s a purpose behind their gestures, and that fuels their drive to live. One of mankind’s proudest achievements, literature, is simply a reflection of it’s world, a massive collection of knowledge and experience that waits to be tapped by both scholars and students alike. Through years of study and analysis, Thomas C. Foster, author of How to Read Literature like a Professor,

has tapped into that knowledge, and has come to the realization that “The real reason for a quest is always self-knowledge” ( Foster 3).

Due to the challenges that come their way, the quester finds himself/herself making decisions that determine his/her future, which changes their character and promotes growth overall. In the novels Charms for the Easy Life, by Kaye Gibbons, and Two Old Women, by Velma Willis,, two seemingly different journeys are depicted, with each carrying the same message, that message being that the reason for their hardships and struggles was so that they could know themselves, and grow.

What starts the protagonists in each story on their journey is a series of events beyond their control. In Two Old Women, the brutal winter was what brought their tribe leader to the decision of leaving them behind. As stated by Willis, “The moose, their favorite source of food, took refuge from the penetrating cold by staying in one place, and were difficult to find”(2). This absence poses a problem to the tribe, as the only animals left are too small to act as complete nourishment. And since the food is distributed fairly equally, the more people there are, the less food there is for each individual. The chief knows that the food supply is not about to increase drastically, so he is left with what he thinks to be the only decision possible: to

abandon the two elderly women who contribute the least. This betrayal, likely fueled by hunger and hopelessness, is what sets Sa’ and Ch’idzigyaak on their separate paths of grim determination and outright anguish. But while all seems lost, there exists a small glimmer of hope, manifested in the lively spirit of Sa’. It is this hope that drives the pair to survive, and then thrive in their circumstances. In Charms for the Easy Life, the journey for Margaret truly begins when her father dies. He was never involved in her life, dropping in and out of the house and constantly looking at other women, meaning that for Margaret, he was a cause of suffering, and was not mourned. In her own words, she states that “I didn’t think I’d have less of a life with him gone. I knew my mother and I would have more”(Gibbons 49). Up until this point, Margaret’s life has been influenced by only two people, her mother and grandmother. And while her mother has been with her this whole time, her time with her grandmother has been somewhat limited. But once Margaret’s father died, the grandmother began to show up more and more frequently, eventually moving in with the two of them. Her grandmother’s hot, fiery temperament adds a bit of character to Margaret in later times, and her wisdom and experience provides a guiding hand to her as she deals with the stress of her busy life.