Sociological Issues In Clyde Edgerton's Raney

984 Words4 Pages
“Raney” by Clyde Edgerton is a story of the marriage between Raney, a small-town Baptist, and Charles, a liberal from Atlanta. We spend roughly two years with these two very different characters, as well as their extended families, debating the roles of wives and husbands, how much water should be used to cook string beans, and sex. This is a new marriage. Raney and Charles are two people who quite honestly, love each other, but are also different in some problematic ways. We learn of their struggle in understanding each other and finding a middle ground. The novel Raney consists of various sociological issues that virtually every married couple at some point will face. These issues include mate selection, family crisis, communication and…show more content…
Sociologically, grieving within families is not an easy task. Each family member reacts to death differently and forces family members to make changes in their lives in order to adjust to life without this family member. Raney and Charles had a hard time accepting the suicide of Uncle Nate. When Charles voiced his opinion that Uncle Nate was clearly depressed, obsessive-compulsive, and crippled from his life experiences, thus needing psychological help in order to heal, Raney took it as an insult. In Raney’s mind, Charles was placing blame on her, her family, and specifically, her mother who spent most of her time taking care of Uncle Nate. This caused Raney to leave Charles and stay with her Aunt Flossie for a period of time. This incident opened both their eyes about their communication and conflict issues and forced them to come up with a way to deal with their problems before it leads to a failed marriage. Marriage counseling seemed to be the answer for them in order to take the steps to resolute their problems. Most young couples have not been through long-term relationships before marriage. Marriage counseling teaches couples how to argue effectively. By communicating, this helps them understand what each individual really wants, without resenting one another. Most importantly, the marriage counselor in the book taught Raney and Charles how to listen to each other. This…show more content…
With such contrasting personalities problems are bound to occur between a small-town Baptist and a liberal from Atlanta, Georgia. What is always prevalent in the novel “Raney” is the undeniable love they have for one another, which at times was quite confusing to me and most readers of this charming love story, I’m sure. Their marriage was a work in progress, definitely adding an element of realism, and took the reader along for the ride as they learned how to get along and love one another in spite of their obvious

More about Sociological Issues In Clyde Edgerton's Raney

Open Document