The Group

Have you ever picked up a novel and just felt in synch with the very energy and environment that surrounds the story itself?  As I delved deeper and deeper into the characters’ lives and personalities of Mary McCarthy’s “The Group” I found myself not only laughing as I could understand many of these coming of age ideas these women were going through, but also, as it transpired, found a comparison between McCarthy’s period novel and the HBO comedy series, based upon similar themes, “Sex and The City,” produced by Darren Star and also taking place within the same central geographical area, New York City and its surrounding areas.

McCarthy, a best-selling writer, whom also graduated from Vassar herself, was coming of age during a period of time when women were suddenly finding themselves at a precipice.  New technologies would bring to light the telephone, motion pictures, house-hold appliances and even women’s clothing such as brassieres, changing how people, especially those of the younger generations, communicated and looked at the world and their individuality as a whole. 

McCarthy, not only gives us a candid view of the way of life between two world wars and the aftermath of the Depression, but she also allows, through satire, irony, and even sexual connotations to give those of us in today’s modern age a pigeon’s eye view of what the female sex was going through.  She hands us themes of which included sexual identity, political and intellectual identity, physical and emotional abuse, and the relationship factor. From the first pages to the last McCarthy helps to provide the backdrop to her characters by showing both weakness and strength in her characters as they grow and evolve in this ever changing environment.  She also gives us a glimpse of what it is like for these women, coming together from various, though not extremely different, and backgrounds within Vassar College, considered one of the Seven Sisters to the Ivy League schools.  

As we get to know each woman while the story unfolds, we are introduced to them at Kay’s marriage and begin to have a sense of foreshadowing as to what to expect from them and the situation:

A.    Uncomfortable with the situation Kay has found herself within, but as she is one of “The Group” they feel obligated to stand and show her moral support. 

B.     Each of the women has differing views, ranging from guilt to elitist and even anger towards the idea of this marriage. 

The Group, though brought together through commonalities, show their individual personalities in the unfolding tale of friendship:

1.      Dottie is uncomfortable but entranced by the idea of Harald’s newly divorced friend, whom she will eventually have a sexual affair with.  Though as the years fade over time, she never quite gets over Dick Brown, which she acknowledges to her mother as they discuss him vs. her upcoming marriage.  “Because I slept with Dick doesn’t mean I should change my whole life.  He feels the same way himself.  You can fit things into their compartments.  He initiated me, and I’ll always be grateful to him for making it so wonderful.  But if I saw him again, it might not be so wonderful. I’d get involved… It’s better to keep it as a memory.  Besides, he doesn’t want my love.  That’s what I was thinking about when you were in the bathroom.  I can’t throw myself at him.”(The Group, pg. 228)

2.      Polly Andrews, agitated and shy holds her thoughts to herself, though she feels the need to be loyal to Kay as she is one of The Group.  Polly, in the end, shows true friendship to Kay, when Harald convicts her to the psychiatric hospital after physically beating her.  Of all the women within The Group, it is Polly who maintains that friendship and loyalty to Kay, along with her husband Jim. “The woman in the bed was Kay.  She had a huge black eye and contusions on her bare arms.  At the sight of Polly in her starched white coat, she burst into copious tears.  She was comparing their positions, Polly realized with sympathy, trying to remember whether she had ever seen Kay cry before.  Rather than ask questions, which might have upset Kay more, Polly got a washcloth and bathed her swollen face.” (The Group, pg. 396)

3.      Elinor aka Lakey, is angry over Kay’s marriage.  You get a sense she feels betrayed by the situation and by Kay, though it does not come clear until the end of the novel at Kay’s funeral the depth of that anger and it’s reasons; at which time she uses deception and irony to gain vengeance upon Harald, a bi-sexual himself, and the male sex in general for stealing one of “hers.”

Harald finished his whiskey. “Were you in love with Kay?”  Lakey cupped her chin in her hand. “She was lovely in her sophomore year.  You hadn’t met her then. On the Daisy Chain.  Like a wild flower herself.  It’s a kind of country beauty I’m particularly fond of.” (The Group, pg. 484)

4.      Libby the local writer and storyteller does not have a fondness for Harald, though she keeps her eyes keen and her wit sharp in her ability to tell and formulate stories that will entrance others, gathering up bits and pieces of gossip about those within her own circle of friends and associates. “Harald had never been a special favorite of Libby’s.  They said he was constantly sleeping with other women, and that kay either did not know about it or did not mind, she was still so dominated by him intellectually.”(The Group, pg. 273)

5.      Pokey, the social elitist, looks upon the entire situation with disdain and boredom.  She would never have attended if the others within the group had not dragged her, considering the whole scenario a mockery and beneath her social identity. Everything in Pokey’s life is based upon her family’s wealth.

6.      Helena, Kay’s former roommate and friend before Lakey came into their lives feels a sense of obligation and loyalty to Kay.

7.      Priss, shy and with a stutter does not speak unless she has something to add, but takes in everything around her.

8.      Norine, vindictive and wanting what others have, including Harald, simply to prove she is capable of taking it.  In truth, it is to Norine Harald often runs when he needs advice, and it is Norine who convinces Harald to have Kay committed to the Payne Whitney Clinic, a private mental hospital, lying to Kay by telling her she will be able to rest and get some respite from Harald.  “Norine said that I ought to go to a hospital for a few days to get a complete rest; I couldn’t rest so long as Harald and I were cooped up in this two-room apartment.”

One of the things each of these women feared was to become replicas of their parents.  “The worst fate they all agreed would be to become like Mother and Dad, stuffy and frightened.” (The Group, 12)

Kay had rebelled, the first to do so, leaving the rest of the group both in awe of her but also unsure how to react, determined to leave behind her mid-western heritage and become a modern woman.  Each wished to step outside the comfort zone they had known all their lives; and yet there was safety to be found within its grasp, locking each one within traditions that Kay flagrantly flaunted; she was the first to lose her virginity, to smoke, to get married, and to wear pants, even going so far as to take on the habits of those in the theater lifestyle by calling her friends by their last names. 

As originally stated this was very reminiscent of the comedy series “Sex and the City,” in which again we are introduced to a group of women, and through similar uses of sexuality, individuality, and satirical humor the audience is pulled within their lives as they grow and evolve, traipsing the trials and tribulations of careers, relationships, sexual identity, and even fashion and politics.  McCarthy, though having introduced “The Group” many years before, understood the struggles of the female in a male dominated society, to come into her own and not lose her own identity.  This is the weaving of the web within this novel, how these women come full circle with Kay once more the fragile piece pulling them all together, as much as she pushed them apart.  In the end, there is no solution to Kay’s death.  It does not fit in a neat box with answers, nor does it leave these women unaffected.  Their lives go on and with it so does The Group.

References:

McCarthy, Mary. The Group. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1963. Print.

Starr, Darren. "HBO: Sex and the City: Homepage." HBO. HBO. Web. 19 Feb. 2016. .

Bellafante, Ginia. "A Live Conversation About 'The Group' by Mary McCarthy." City Room A Live Conversation About The Group by Mary McCarthy Comments. NY Times, 26 Feb. 2013. Web. 19 Feb. 2016. .

"Vassar Info." About Vassar. Web. 19 Feb. 2016. .