“Wild Things Belong Outside”: An Ecofeminist Analysis of Amy Greene’s Bloodroot

Appalachian Literature has a canon of its own, one of which I believe Amy Greene’s groundbreaking novel, Bloodroot should be a more prominent part. The novel brings up important cultural as well as universal issues. Situating this work among relevant theory and scholarship allows us to think seriously about the themes that Green explores in the novel in a way that has not been done before. Additionally, I believe that there is important scholarly work to be done with the role of Appalachian Folk Magic in a world where some of these traditions and customs are dying out. Individuals within the region and beyond can learn important information and history about this culture by looking at folk tradition. This tradition speaks to the ways that some in the region view nature, religion, family, community, and women. With this research, I ask questions such as: How does Greene use Appalachian Folk Magic to speak to the role of women in the novel as well as their relationship to nature? How can trauma theory be applied to the complexities of both the male and female characters? What role does masculinity play in the novel and how does this contribute to the collective trauma of the characters? I suggest in my paper that the overarching source of violence and trauma in the novel is the interpellation of various characters by the ideology of the patriarchal nuclear family. In this paper I argue that Greene enforces a connection between women, nature, and folk magic throughout the novel. The women in Bloodroot are able to use folk magic as a mode of female empowerment in a life in which they are otherwise constantly oppressed by their role in the patriarchal nuclear family. Greene illuminates issues of masculinity, trauma, abuse as well as generational curses, and who is responsible for breaking them. Ecofeminist and trauma theories provide analytic lenses that help to pull into focus the root of violence and trauma in the novel by exposing how various characters are shaped by the ideology of the patriarchal nuclear family.