MAPACA

Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

The Woman Who Was Changed, a collection of stories by Pearl S. Buck, appeared in 1979, several years after the author’s death. Most of the stories in the collection had not been published previously. Those who had the opportunity/good fortune to read them when they finally did appear, both old fans and those who were new to Buck’s work, would discover in them many opportunities to get to know or get to know better one of the most popular writers and activists of the first half of the twentieth century. For here, in the guise of many characters and in the midst of fictionalized ethical, political and social situations, the author seems to reflect on how she came to make several important decisions in her personal life and unflinchingly examines sensitive and controversial issues of the post-WW II world. Usually reticent about her personal life, the author offers tempting glimpses of moments in her own experience when she tells the story of the well-known author Ellen Dane a she tries to reconcile the life of a professional writer with the role of the stereotypical housewife of mid-twentieth-century America in the title story. Other stories dramatize race, class, and gender discrimination, women’s reproductive rights, nuclear energy, divorce and remarriage, and new notions of what constitutes “the family,” evoking thoughtful reflection and reminding readers of the historical and cultural context in which these issues arose and created the contemporary environment. This essay examines each of the stories within the context of Buck’s life and beliefs, particularly as they were shaped and affected by the events and culture of the second half of the twentieth century. Such an examination reveals the richness of the stories and underscores Buck’s brave and consistent engagement with the important and difficult issues of her day.