How did you view Eunice’s relationship with her husband? Why do you think there was so much tension in their marriage?
Eunice’s relationship with her husband seems typical of the time period. In the fact he didn’t really seem to care what she did as long as she was there to support him, take care of their son and make his dinner. I was honestly surprised he didn’t leave her but I guess he didn’t want their community to look down on him for something like that when they were really proud of Eunice’s accomplishments. I found it a bit unbelievable after the trial he completely turned around his opinion and supported her and her work.
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Lisle Carter seemed to want it all, an intelligent, strong woman and a traditional, devoted wife. I think Lisle’s intentions were good. He was legitimately concerned about his son and wife. I thought it was sad that Eunice couldn’t be open with Lisle because she knew he wouldn’t be supportive of her work.
I was actually surprised that her husband came around in the end. He was so hurt by her putting work over her family that I don’t know how his opinion turned around so completely. After she failed to show up at his award reception, well, that would have been the breaking point for me. Plus during the day it was unusual for a wife & mother to even work, let alone have an important job. I’m sure her success would have challenged his role as husband and father, and again, I’m surprised he overcame his ego to support her.
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I agree. His turn around didn’t make sense and didn’t seem justified but just going to the trial and seeing her “work”. I feel like it was a quick way to give a happier ever after ending.
Eunice’s relationship with her husband was not uncommon for this time, in fact it has not been eliminated in this country. Culturally it was so important for the man to be the important part of the marriage; 50-50 didn’t seem to be appreciated by men. The tension was intensified by the fact that her husband thought what other men thought of their marriage was more important than what the people in the marriage thought. I applauded Eunice’s strength in the relationship.
I agree. I wondered if this part of the story was based on fact or was added to enrich the novel. It seemed at first he was being influenced by the family life of his coworkers, wanting the same for himself. When their family was threatened by the mob, his desire to have a more traditional wife was easier to understand.
In 1936 being a woman with a law degree was very unusual. Most women spent their time supporting their husband’s career and raising the children. Lisle’s situation was unique among his peers and it would not have been surprising if he had been envious of men whose wives were always available. The surprising part for me was that he supported Eunice in the end. It doesn’t seem realistic especially since she had forgotten his awards ceremony.
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As with any marriage, each partner has thoughts on how the other should behave, and the don’t always match up with the other person’s ideas. Eunice’s husband wanted her to be more attentive to him and less on the job. He did love her, and was very proud of her, but time away from each other is always hard in a marriage. He also wanted to be a family with their son at home, but her job created problems for that. Traditional marriage isn’t always the way things work. They did recover and realize that their love was very strong since their marriage lasted quite a while.
I think their relationship was typical for the time, regardless of race. He wanted a stay at home wife, she wanted a career. She tried hard to support him in his profession and his many extra activities. He, as is typical of a male, was jealous of her career and did little to support her. Like several of the others, I was also surprised he came around at the end. I thought for sure her missing his awards dinner was the end of that marriage.
Often singular success on either the part of the man or the woman causes some tension in the marriage. The time of this story was when woman were supposed to stay home and men were the breadwinners. I think Lisle is somewhat jealous of Eunice’s success. It takes away from his importance of his work with the NAACP and with other black dentists. Also I think perhaps he may be a worried that with dealing with criminals, she may be in danger.
I appreciated both Lisle and Eunice both wanting to keep it together. They truly loved each other. I was surprised that Eunice failing to show up at his award ceremony wasn’t the last straw and I thought Eunice asking Lisle to come to court because it was important to her was a little tone-deaf.
Lisle felt abandoned and that family came second to Eunice after the job. This was definitely true for Eunice Carter. She sent her son out of the country for safety reasons rather than quit the job. I imagine that was very difficult for any husband or a wife to endure - the job v. safety of the family. Plus, she forgot about a Lisle award banquet - ugh, that would be difficult for any spouse to forgive.
I agree with everyone’s comments but had one more thought - I wonder if Lisle didn’t really understand what Eunice was working on and how big her contribution was until he saw her in action in court. At work she was sidelined as a woman, a black woman at that. At home, it is possible that Lisle couldn’t fathom that a woman could be as successful as a man. He may have been underestimating her abilities. As for him going to the trial - maybe he wanted to one up her by showing up like she asked to prove that he was the “better man” and ended up being impressed with what he saw. I looked online for any info on their marriage and found nothing.
I think her friend got it right. It wasn’t that he resented her education and work as much as he was hurt by her not being there for him. This was particularly true when she forgot about his significant award. Yet even at the ceremony, he thanked for her support (despite clearly not feeling it.)
I think that while she did come to understand this, she still felt he should have been more supportive of her. She already was not as respected as she should have been - as a woman and as a Negro - so she thought he should make up for that.
I think they were both driven people and her husband’s take on her career seemed pretty standard for the time. It’s odd though because he knew this prior to their marriage. Maybe her drive became more intense after the marriage.
At the time, women were expected to be primarily focused on husband, family, home. To be a career woman in law enforcement naturally would require more time than most husbands would tolerate. Eunice had a gift, made a significant advancement for her race into a white male-dominated profession. She did what she needed to do to make her contribution to both aspects of her life. Perhaps if he had been more open to communication and trying to understand her, there would have been fewer issues. He seemed more concerned about what society would think of “him” from a male expectation aspect. Once she succeeded so extraordinarily, that veil lifted somewhat.
I think we are meant to assume that Lisle’s attitude/behavior is understandable considering the setting, but he deserves a little more credit. I would love to say that I would have kept going after she missed the award ceremony, but that might have been the cherry on top after everything else. In my eyes, his end of the tension was far more rooted in genuine concern or his family than it was in wanting a “traditional” wife.
Eunice’s relationship with Lisle was complicated. I believed he was proud to say his wife was a professional and powerful woman. He also wasn’t happy that she couldn’t be super wife as well. The time period had the male be the head of the household and breadwinner.
Her husband didn’t understand how much the case meant to her. I’m sure he married her expecting to have a traditional wife and mother, who also had a job she enjoyed. He didn’t appreciate that the case became a mission for her.
I can tell you from personal experience, that nonlawyers have no clue how much work goes into putting together a case. I had similar issues with my husband when I litigated a life or death case for 6 years that went all the way to the California Supreme Court. He understood the case, but not the degree of preparation required, so I talked to him about what I was doing, explained why I had to take certain actions & make certain business trips, as well as how many hours the work demanded. And he came to the trial, which was when he saw for himself exactly what I was up against! He had a better attitude then, and was present in the courtrooms when I argued the case in the Court of Appeals and before the California Supreme Court (along with my oldest son).
Eunice could have done a lot more to educate Lisle about her work, the case, and how important it was to her and to the women for whom she was fighting to get justice. Probably wouldn’t have made for very interesting readers for non-lawyers, though.
None of this minimizes the risks she was taking. And Lisle’s fears about their safety were fully justified.