What Is Identity?

Is identity something we shape ourselves to be? Or is our identity the very instrument that shapes us? Theorists, such as Jacques Lacan and Louis Althusser, argue that we mistake (or, in Lacan's terminology: misrecognize) an external expectation (sometimes an image) for our own identity, setting up a lifelong battle to become --and maintain-- this "image." 

In the case of Toni Jo Henry, the fictionalized character of A Savage Wisdom based on the historical figure, Toni Jo encounters an alter-ego in the opportunities Harold Nevers presents to her, which threatens her former existence and changes her future. Find out what makes Toni Jo vulnerable and whether or not her identity shapes her or she shapes it.

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What's Your Favorite Quote?

Post your favorite A Savage Wisdom quote (1-2 sentences) as a comment below. Or, post on the Facebook Fan page. (For Facebook, be sure to select "Like" before posting.) 

Pictures of Bayou St. John

Here are a few pictures of Bayou St. John and Lake Pontchartrain. (In the novel, Harold Nevers' restaurant is located on the east bank of the mouth of Bayou St. John.)


Photos courtesy of the Alexander Allison Photograph Collection, New Orleans Public Library.

For more information on Bayou St. John, click here.

Reading Guide Questions, Part One

For those who are parsing through A Savage Wisdom as part of a reading group, here are a few questions and ideas to help get your group discussion started.

For the non-Louisianans, Google the cities Toni Jo travels to. Also, check Wikipedia articles on Louisiana culture and cuisine.

Questions for Chapters One through Six 

1. While washing dishes, Toni Jo slices her fingertip on a knife. "Toni Jo clutched the finger with her hand, [Harold's] hands enclosing hers, the blood running over the tip of her finger and mingling with the dish water [...]" (page 29). Describe the symbolism of this moment. Briefly recall the inner conflict growing in Toni Jo while she works at the Time-Out Cafe, feeling that her life "had been small" (page 13).

2. Sitting on Mrs. Henry's porch in chapter four, Nevers suggests for Toni Jo to turn out the porch light, which she does. Then she feels for the porch swing with both hands "like a blind woman, her eyes not yet adjusted to the dark" (page 32). How does this foreshadow the events of the first chapter?

3. Told through Nevers' voice, the evangelist (T. Van Mahorn) comments that "'in the twinkling of an eye you'll be changed'" (34). Explore the idea of "change." How do the characters change. What significance does the evangelist's voice being filtered through Nevers' monologue have?

4. Nevers recounts the revival meeting to Toni Jo by saying, "There was something catching about the enthusiasm" (page 34). Apply this statement to Toni Jo's emotional state after meeting Harold Nevers.

5. Tracing the appearance versus reality theme, examine Harold Nevers' admission that "things aren't always what they seem" (page 41-2). How is Harold Nevers like the evangelist T. Van Mahorn?

6. What makes Toni Jo vulnerable to Nevers (his offer for a new job and his advances toward her)?

7. How does the jigsaw puzzle at the beginning of chapter five parallel Toni Jo's life? How is the non-linear construction of the narrative working according to the jigsaw puzzle allusion?

8. Review the elements of a conversion narrative (with the right-angle plot, etc.). Discuss Toni Jo's receipt of a new name as compared to the theme of rebirth or being "born again."

9. Compare Toni Jo's reaction to the pistol in Nevers' glove compartment to her reaction to the gun in chapter one, the day of the murder. 

10. Trace the theme of church and conversion. Explore metaphorical implications within the text (ex. cathedral, baptism, church,altar, etc.).

11. What symbolism does the restaurant name "Terra Incognita" hold?

12. Pursue the use of the word luck/lucky in the context of Nevers' character. Applying the word to the idea of gambling (even with "fate"), revisit the attraction Nevers has over Toni Jo.

A Savage Wisdom

Toni Jo Henry

A Savage Wisdom, a novel by Norman German, is an imaginative reconstruction of the life of Toni Jo Henry, the only woman executed in Louisiana’s electric chair, for the 1940 Valentine’s Day slaying of a Houston businessman. 

In a meticulous review in Lagniappe, Brad Goins states that the novel is hardly over after Toni Jo's execution. The final section “shows how the actions of Toni Jo affect at least two subsequent generations. This part has the wildest plot twists I’ve encountered in fiction (and that’s coming from somebody who’s read lots of Balzac and Ed Lee).” Goins concludes his analysis, “Every two or three years, a work of exceptional literary merit comes out of Louisiana. This is one of the select group.”

In early September, A Savage Wisdom reached a #5 rank in the competitive Kindle category of True Crime:Murder & Mayhem. To read more about this gripping thriller:

http://www.thunder-rain.com/a_savage_wisdom.html 
Buy the Kindle version of A Savage Wisdom