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Dynamics Book Discussion Club

The Bridges of Madison County

Robert James Waller
RC 35861, BR 9823
 Listening Time: 4 hours, 15 minutes

Abstract
 Robert Kincaid, a traveling photographer for National Geographic, arrives in Madison County, Iowa, on August 16, 1965, to photograph the region's covered bridges. He stops for directions at the home of Francesca Johnson, a disillusioned immigrant whose husband and children are temporarily out of town. The next four wonderful days awaken a deep, fulfilling love between Robert and Francesca. All too soon, Francesca must make the hardest choice of her life. Some descriptions of sex.

Preliminary Questions
 How many of you cried at some part of this novel? Which part? If you liked or disliked this book very strongly-why?

Biographical Information [1]
Robert James Waller is a versatile artist who grew up in the tiny midwestern town of Rockford, Iowa. He attended the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls as an undergraduate, then earned his doctorate at Indiana University. He went on to become a professor of management, economics, and applied mathematics at his alma mater, eventually serving as dean of the College of Business and publishing in numerous professional journals. In addition to these accomplishments, he was also an all-conference college basketball player and is a dedicated musician and vocalist, playing guitar and flute as well as writing and performing original songs. On top of all that, Waller is a world-traveled photographer. Although Bridges was his first work of fiction, Waller has since published four other novels, several essay collections, and a photography book of Madison County's bridges. Waller now resides quietly on a remote ranch in the mountains of west Texas, with his friend Linda, two horses, four dogs, and two cats.

Discussion Questions

Waller:

  1. The introduction and conclusion of this novel seem to indicate that it is a true story written at the direct request of Francesca Johnson's children, based on their mother's journals and on Waller's firsthand research of Robert Kincaid's photography career. However, it is entirely a work of fiction fabricated by the author's imagination [2]. Why do you think Waller chose to structure his novel in such a misleading fashion?

    • making readers believe it is a true story is an easy way to achieve their "suspension of disbelief" and make a fanciful story credible

  3. Consider this quotation from Waller, speaking about the genesis of his first novel:

    "Though I periodically had tried writing fiction [before Bridges], nothing ever came of it. But after visiting the covered bridges in Madison County, Iowa, toting my cameras on a rainy summer day, something happened I cannot explain, and the story formed. Driving homeward to northern Iowa, the story took on more and more detail. I dropped my gear just inside the front door, went to my computer, and began writing the book. It was, in a phrase, given to me. Bridges helped me break through a barrier of some kind, and afterward I was able to write fiction." [3]

    Do you think that pretending the story he was writing was actually true helped Waller break through his barrier to writing fiction? Can you think of other factors that might have helped?

    • perhaps the story is semi-autobiographical, or maybe it represents subconscious fantasies of the author
    • perhaps actually visiting the setting made it seem very real to him

Waller and Kincaid:

  1. All of the similarities between Waller and his character Robert Kincaid lend support to the semi-autobiographical speculation. In fact, in that same interview, the author specifically compares himself to Kincaid, saying:
    "First off, I am not a world-renowned photographer; I never pursued it quite to that level. As for Robert Kincaid, he and I indeed overlap in certain ways, but we are quite different in other respects. Like Kincaid, I was not a good student in school, though I was required to rectify that when I reached graduate school. I, too, grew up in a small town, was a voracious reader in my boyhood, and dreamed of traveling to exotic places. We also share a view of the contemporary world, one bordering on incredulity, and have trouble deciphering much of the noise around us, especially the tendency by certain groups toward incivility and ridicule. As for photography, both of us apparently have a taste for the impressionistic and the abstract. I used to think the overlap between [us] was about 80 percent; now I think 50 percent is more accurate" [3].

    In spite of Waller's claim to be only half-similar to Kincaid, he lists seven ways in which they "overlap" and the only specific mention he makes of a difference is that he is not a "world-renowned photographer" like Kincaid, although he is admittedly a gifted amateur photographer who shares Kincaid's artistic tastes. Can you think of other similarities between Waller and Kincaid?

    • both value privacy and are loners by nature
    • both like dogs and the outdoors
    • both mourn the gradual loss of "free range" and undisturbed wilderness
    • both occasionally write poetry and fiction
    • both play guitar and are physically fit
    • both are very intelligent and have artistic souls
    • Kincaid calls himself "the last cowboy" and Waller spent several years purchasing and preserving a large Texas ranch

  2. Can anyone think of any differences?

    • Kincaid is not interested in economics or applied mathematics
    • Kincaid is too independent to be employed in a university system

Travel :

  1. Have you ever been on a cross-country trip like the one Robert Kincaid takes from Bellingham, Washington, to Madison County, Iowa, in the beginning of the novel?

  2. Many people would consider Kincaid's job as a traveling photographer for National Geographic a dream come true. Do any of you? If not, then what is your dream job?

Francesca:

  1. Early in the novel, we learn how Francesca met her husband, an American soldier during World War 2, when she was an Italian teacher desperate to get married. She says:
    "Most of the young Italian men were dead or injured or in POW camps or broken by the fighting. Her affair with Niccolo . had been over for a year, done in finally by the unceasing disapproval of her traditional parents.. The hard press of reality brought her to the recognition that her choices were constrained. Richard offered a reasonable alternative: kindness and the sweet promise of America. She had studied him in his soldiers' uniform as they sat in a café in the Mediterranean sunlight, saw him looking earnestly at her in his Midwestern way, and came to Iowa with him."

    What are Francesca's reasons for marrying Richard? Do you think they justify her choice?

    • there were very few eligible men
    • he was kind and earnest, though clearly not handsome or romantic
    • he offered to take her to America, far away from her strict, disapproving parents and the war-damage Naples had sustained

  2. For the ladies in our group: if you were not already involved in a relationship before the war, or if your partner was lost in the fighting, did you have a hard time finding a husband in the post-war years, as Francesca did?

Marriage:

  1. At one point, Francesca realizes the two days she has spent with Robert have been elegant, and she wonders:
    "Why didn't she and Richard live this way? Part of it, she knew, was the inertia of protracted custom. All marriages, all relationships, are susceptible to that. Custom brings predictability, and predictability carries its own comforts.. But there was something more going on here. Predictability was one thing, fear of change is something else. And Richard was afraid of change, any kind of change, in their marriage."

    Have any of you had to deal with the problems of mundane repetition and fear of change in your marriages? What solutions did you come up with?

Francesca's Choice:

  1. When they finally must discuss the future, Francesca gives Robert several reasons for her decision to end their relationship. She says:
    "I'm not sure you can [be yourself] with me along. Don't you see, I love you so much that I cannot think of restraining you for a moment. To do that would be to kill the wild, magnificent animal that is you.. I have feelings of responsibility here.. To Richard, to the children. Just my leaving, taking away my physical presence, would be hard enough for Richard. That alone might destroy him. On top of that, and this is even worse, he would have to live the rest of his life with the whispers of the people here.. the children would hear the snickering of Winterset for as long as they live here. They would suffer, too. And they would hate me for it.. I cannot . live with the thought of [abandoning my responsibilities]. If I did leave now, those thoughts would turn me into something other than the woman you have come to love."

    Of those five reasons (it would change Robert, her duty to her husband, her duty to her children, the gossiping her family would have to endure, and the guilt that would change her), which do you think is the most compelling?

  2. Earlier in the novel, when Francesca is musing on her marriage, she acknowledges that all relationships tend to become predictable. Could that be another part of the reason Francesca ultimately chooses not to be with Robert?

    • perhaps she feels that a future with Robert could never measure up to their four stolen days of beauty, because of the inevitability of inertia, and would rather keep those days as an unspoiled treasure in her memory

  4. Do you think Robert is Francesca's one "true love?" Or do you think her emotions are just confused by the novelty of the situation?

  5. Do you agree with Francesca's choice? Are there other alternatives she could have considered, such as joining Robert after her children are grown and have left behind the small-town vicinity and all of its gossipers?

  6. How does letting Robert go affect Francesca? Kincaid? Her husband? Michael and Carolyn?

    • Francesca and Kincaid: both now live in the past with a constant yearning that things could have been different
    • Richard: never knew Francesca very well previously, even less so after her experience, but he remained content anyway
    • Michael and Carolyn: carried on happily oblivious to their mother's suffering

  7. What do you think would have happened to Francesca's family if she had gone with Robert?

  8. Would you change how the story ended? And how do you think your answer reflects your beliefs and values? For instance, if you think Francesca did the right thing in staying with her husband, does that mean that loyalty is more admirable than following your heart? What if a part of you wanted her to leave with Robert? Do you believe true love would have been worth giving up her family?

  9. If the story took place today, in the twenty-first century rather than 1965, do you think Francesca would make the same decision?

Changing Times:

  1. Consider Kincaid's description of himself as "one of the last cowboys." He says:
    "Not all men are the same. Some will do okay in the world that's coming. Some, maybe just a few of us, will not.In older worlds, there were things we could do, were designed to do, that nobody or no machine could do. We run fast, are strong and quick, aggressive and tough. We were given courage. We can throw spears long-distances and fight in hand-to-hand combat. Eventually, computers and robots will run things. Humans will manage those machines, but that doesn't require courage or strength, or any characteristics like those. In fact, men are outliving their usefulness. All you need are sperm banks to keep the species going."

    Do you think Robert's vision of the future is accurate? If so, how soon will such a society be upon us?

  2. For the men in our group: do you consider yourself a "cowboy" becoming obsolete like Kincaid, or are you the more adaptable type who will "do okay in the world that's coming?"

  3. If the ancient roles of "cowboys" are becoming useless, what does this imply about the ancient roles of "cowgirls?"

  4. Does Francesca embody the traditional female "cowgirl?" In what ways?

    • she is maternal, nurturing, she gathers the garden produce and cooks for her family, she puts her husband's and her children's tastes and desires ahead of her own

  6. Could this be related to Francesca's decision to send Robert out of her life? Could it also be related to the last cowboy's decision not to challenge Francesca's choice?

    • just as Francesca refuses to cast off the "cowgirl" role and embrace the changing times, Robert refuses to shed his traditional "cowboy" role, which dictates that Francesca rightfully belongs with her husband and family

Feminism:

  1. In Kincaid's discourse on the disappearing cowboys, he makes an unusual assertion:
    "My contention is that male hormones are the ultimate cause of trouble on this planet. It was one thing to dominate another tribe or another warrior. It is quite another to have missiles. It is also quite another to have the power to destroy nature the way we're doing.. The curse of modern times is the preponderance of male hormones in places where they can do long-term damage."

    Do you think that is a valid assessment?

  2. What are the implications of Kincaid's statement?

    • advocates that a matriarchal society-one with women as the primary leaders-would be better than our patriarchal society which is primarily ruled by men

  4. On the surface, it seems contradictory for a male author to write such an anti-male sentiment, especially through the mouth of a male protagonist so uncannily similar to the author himself. What do you think Kincaid's, and by extension the author's, views are on the subject of feminism?

    • he is a clear supporter of the feminist movement

  6. One significant tenet of feminism is that personal fulfillment should be a person's highest priority, outweighing all other expectations or responsibilities. So although traditional female priorities such as marriage and motherhood are right for some women, other women may not find such goals fulfilling and should have the freedom to pursue other paths regardless of the consequences. And yet by these standards, Francesca would have chosen to leave her family and pursue her own happiness with Robert Kincaid. What do you make of Waller's conflicting portrayals of feminism?

  7. This novel was published in 1992, yet the author chose to set it in 1965. That is four years after the premier of oral contraceptives and only one year after Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibited discriminating on the basis of sex when hiring employees, both of which events heralded the beginning of the modern feminist movement. Further, consider this quotation from Francesca. She thinks:
    "The women's magazines talked about [the lack of open, natural relationships between men and women]. And women were starting to have expectations about their allotted place in the grander scheme of things, as well as what transpired in the bedrooms of their lives. Men such as Richard-most men, she guessed-were threatened by these expectations."

    This statement seems to reinforce the conclusion that the author is consciously exploring the subject of feminism. Does Waller's decision to set the novel in the middle of the emerging feminist movement shed any light on Francesca's choice? Is Francesca one of the "brainwashed" women blinded by centuries of patriarchy that the feminists seek to enlighten? Or is it possible to be an enlightened feminist and still value your dependents' well-being over your own?

Michael and Carolyn:

  1. The author explains that "in a world where personal commitment in all of its forms seems to be shattering and love has become a matter of convenience," Michael and Carolyn "felt this remarkable tale was worth the telling," despite their worries that the story "might result in tawdry gossip and unkind debasement of whatever memories people have of Richard and Francesca Johnson." If you were Michael and Carolyn, would you tell the world this story?

  2. Considering her family, could Francesca have told her children about her affair? Do you think they are more forgiving because they find out after she is gone?

Themes:

  1. What are the major themes that Waller addresses in this novel?

    • true commitment is a rare but beautiful thing
    • chance encounters can change your life
    • selfless love overrides passionate love
    • those who live in the past lack fulfillment in the present
    • fear of change results in paralysis