An American Childhood

A unique and lovely individual, Pam Lambert Doak is Dillard’s mother. An unusual woman for her time and place, Pam forces her children to have compassion for those who are not as fortunate, such as the black maid and chauffer in their household. Pam refuses to conform to all of the requirements for the women of her day and socioeconomic class: she rolls away downhill on the beach when she grows bored with a conversation, and hands her children the telephone when a wrong number calls. However, she views Dillard’s independence and teenage transgressions, such as drag racing and suspension from school for smoking cigarettes, as a threat to her daughter’s future and as a reflection on her as a parent. Those rebellions go too far for her.

Pam instinctively knows where the boundaries are in her world. She operates as a bit of an iconoclast, but not outside the boundaries of her privileged world. Pam knows what is out there—chaos, poverty, and struggle—and she does not want any part of it. She does, however, teach her children that the people living in Homewood, who include the family’s maid and handyman, are human beings no less than they are. She morally instructs her children that the poor are not bad people, and that wealth is a privilege rather than a moral judgment proving the superiority of the rich.

Obsessed with Dixieland jazz and Life on the Mississippi, Mark Twain’s memoir of his days as a steamboat captain, Frank provides a positive example to his children of a life lived to the fullest and of the importance of following your dreams. However, this message of freedom is curtailed by other imperatives. Frank returns home from his trip downriver to New Orleans after only six weeks, long before reaching his goal, because he wants to preserve the good opinion of his friends and neighbors, who are beginning to talk about his absence. Therefore, the example of her father teaches Dillard that you can follow your dreams, but only so far; certainly, no farther than a neighborhood gossip machine.

Frank also taught his daughter about jazz, played the drums, and taught Dillard about how the world works through explanations of both engineering and music. The family also dances together, primarily to Frank’s jazz music recordings.

Morally, Frank judges the world as a Republican; he believes that the poor should simply limit the number of children that they have if they cannot afford to raise them. His wife contradicts his simplistic and judgmental view, and Dillard absorbs her mother’s message as she reflects on her experiences with the Homewood library, which is located in a primarily black neighborhood.

Amy is three years younger than Dillard. Dillard has a contentious relationship for most of the autobiography with her younger sister, telling her mother that she hates Amy. Dillard is also jealous of Amy’s beauty and calm nature. Amy remains calm until she, too, hits adolescence. Amy is sent to boarding school during Dillard’s last year of high school.

Born when Dillard was 10 years old, the youngest daughter of the family is the most beloved by Dillard. Because Dillard had difficulty accepting Amy when she was born, her mother allows Dillard to think that Molly was a special gift for Dillard. Dillard dotes on her smallest sister, marveling at her growth and loving her deeply.