49 pages • 1 hour read
Adele MyersThe Tobacco Wives
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Maddie’s Red Hair
Maddie’s curly auburn hair is a symbol of her transformation into an independent woman. In the beginning of the novel, Maddie listens to Momma’s requests and covers her hair with a handkerchief because Momma says that it’s a painful reminder of her husband who shared the same striking hair color. Unlike other mother-daughter relationships that Maddie has witnessed in which mothers compliment their daughters, Maddie feels shame about her looks and is encouraged to hide them away. Myers uses the symbol of Maddie’s hair, and her physical appearance in general, to establish Maddie’s initial subservience to the expectations of others.
Maddie was also teased in school for her red hair and is deeply self-conscious about it. Once in Bright Leaf, she is free of her mother’s control and already stands out as an outsider, so she decides to accept her hair and her differences. When Anthony encourages her to tame her wild hair before a dress fitting, she adamantly refuses, telling him that she’d rather “eat dirt than wear a kerchief” (131). This acceptance represents an evolution; now that she is in Bright Leaf, she realizes that her hair is something of which to be proud. Myers uses her hair as a physical representation of Maddie’s bourgeoning individuality and acceptance of herself.
Advertisements
The motif of advertisements represent The Contrast Between the Opulent Façade and Hidden Realities of Society. In the beginning of the novel as Maddie begins her journey to Bright Leaf, she hears a radio ad for MOMints that describes the benefit of mint oil to calm women’s nerves and points to a statewide survey of doctors recommending the cigarette to female patients. Myers uses dramatic irony—the disconnect between the advertisement and the knowledge of the contemporary reader—to make an advertisement that extols the virtues of cigarettes jarring. This dramatic irony highlights the difference between false narratives and reality.
Advertisements are present throughout the novel from 1946 to 1990, when Myers creates a full circle trajectory as Maddie takes on Big Tobacco’s advertising in Congress and advocates for truthful advertising within the Better Business Bureau. In this way, advertisements run parallel to her character arc from naïve teenager awed by the opulent façade to informed adult about the realities of society.
Covered Bridge
The symbol of the covered bridge only occurs once in the novel when David is eager to take Maddie to see the structure on the outskirts of town. It symbolizes the long-established yet fading structures that have protected the tobacco industry. Though it is old and dusty, the bridge is also “impressively long, at least a quarter of a mile from end to end, and covered from the elements with a peaked wooden ceiling” (239), representing the imposing and protective qualities of the structures that have allowed the tobacco industry to thrive. While Maddie and David continue to bond while watching the fireworks on the top of the bridge, a flatbed truck full of tobacco rumbles toward them. As the bridge rattles and the truck barrels through, Maddie is worried that they will be knocked down or that the truck will miss the curve. It doesn’t, and David reassures her by saying, “it would take a lot more than a little bend in the road to bring down a load of tobacco” (242). The covered bridge and David’s remarks take on much deeper meaning when examined through the lens of Maddie’s knowledge about the dangers of tobacco. She is like the little bend in the road that will try to topple a tobacco empire.
