McClung
...argue that Nellie was an emphatic, kind woman. This is proven by the way that Nellie treated her domestic employees and her family. She encouraged her domestic employees to have “a private life and to further their education if they wished to do so. If their knowledge of English was weak, Nellie taught them the language herself.” “Nellie made sure her ‘girls’ never felt demeaned by their domestic work. She made their friends welcome and did not expect that the friends should be entertained in the kitchen either. It is good for a girl’s morale to have the use of a den or some other pleasant room where she can forget the washing of dishes or the peeling of potatoes; and I would not expect my girls to go around by the back door when a young man brought them home. They had their own key to the front door and there was always a verandah light burning for them when they were out and they knew they were always welcome to bring their friend in for a cup of coffee. Little privileges like this help a girl to know that she is a person of importance with the protection and dignity of a family and a home.” Two of Nellie’s maids reveal that Nellie had a loving relationship with Wes, and that “her children…were wonderful to her, and she was marvelous to them. I can see her now when she’d hear the front door open… it didn’t matter when those boys came in-from school or from work or wherever… she’d run half way down those stairs, and they’d run up: ‘Hello, mother dear,’ and they’d embrace each other. I don’t think they ever failed to do that.” Further evidence supporting this first argument that Nellie was kindhearted and not “the stereotypical repressive” feminist, is provided in a letter from the citizens of Manitou to Nellie. They were so “deeply moved by her personal impact on Manitou life that when she moved from Manitou to Winnipeg they wrote, ‘As a social worker your labours have been carried on in an earnest and intelligent manner, destitute of ostentation. Humanity in its diverse ways has found in you a thoughtful and generous friend whose grace and charm will long be remembered by those who have been fortunate enough to know you. Your removal will leave a void very difficult to fill.’” Reviewers of this book have found this first argument very persuasive. They write that Firing the Heather, “makes a strong case for seeing McClung as more creative, more empathic, more communal than we have seen before.” Another reviewer writes that, the book gives one “the suspicion that other historians have harbored… a certain thinness of thought” when portraying McClung as a “tight-lipped temperance worker” rather than a “serene, outgoing, and attractive woman.” A weakness in the book’s argument is that there is evidence that McClung was not balanced when it came to caring for her family. She may have sought to change the public sphere because she had no control over her private sphere. For example, “She was a vigorous opponent of alcohol, yet several of her children reportedly had drinking problems.” Her eldest son Jack Mclung, a very successful prosecuting attorney, took his own life in 1944. This was partially a result of his drinking problems. Nevertheless, Firing the Heather, does make strong argument overall. It even provides reasons for Jack’s suicide, such as the war, for example, which take the blame off of McClung. Also, the book supplies such a great amount of examples displaying Nellie’s warm personality, that her attributes outweigh “the shadows of her life.” In fact, the account of her “shadows” convinces one that McClung was a greater heroine by showing one that she was “irrepressible to the end.” Destinies provides further evidence to support the book’s argument. Though Destinies only describes McClung as having spirit, a “gift for oratory,” energy, and a “delightful sense of humour,” it also cites a quotation from one of her books which reveals McClung’s nature: “Few English Canadians were as tolerant as the western Canadian reformer, and author Nellie McClung. She wrote: Among the people of the world in the years to come, we will ask no greater heritage for our country than to be known as the land of the Fair Deal, where every race, colour and creed will be given exactly the same chance - for immigrants, ‘the Land of the Second Chance.’” Her Story: Women from Canada’s Past, also argues that McClung was compassionate because she spoke about “socialized medicine,” and “worked tirelessly to alleviate human misery caused by inequality and injustice.” A weakness in Firing the Heather, is that the authors don’t seem “prepared to admit the presence of an unconscious in McClung.” One must realize when dissecting McClung’s writing, that she is subjective and not precisely “who she says she is.” “When historians begin to do that, especially about women like McClung who fit so well, and who conform so nicely with their times and places, yet who critique and hope to change their reality, we will understand more about personal conflicts and social tensions.” Instead, the authors of “Firing the Heather” describe her “reality and her motivations” just as McClung described them. “To analyze her conflicts, in ways that she could not do, would help make more sense of the activist who spoke and wrote both for personal agency and structural change, for caretaking and individual autonomy, for political participation and the despair of marginality.” In addition to the book’s first argument that McClung was compassionate, the book also convinces one of “McClung’s vitality, humour, and effectiveness as a speaker in Canada and the united States.” There is a large amount of evidence in the book supporting this second argument in a very persuasive manner. Many quotations from her speeches and written works are cited to buttress the claim that Nellie was an energetic, effective, and witty speaker. For example, “with a Political Equality League delegation, Nellie confronted Sir Rodmond on the issue of votes for women in 1914, in the Manitoba Legislature. Then she went home and practiced his every mannerism and gesture. Next night an overflowing crowd at Winnipeg’s Walker Theatre gleefully watched a mock parliament of women receiving a delegation of men who pleaded for voting rights. Representing the premier was, of course, Nellie McClung, who mimicked him to perfection and convulsed the audience with pious observations like, ‘Good men shrink from the polls as from a pestilence.’” “In her public appearances Nellie would often use humour and her quick wit to make her point, and halls were usually filled to overflowing when she was scheduled to speak. Nellie was also able to draw on her own life experiences to make her audience identify with her. Newspapers accounts were full of her ability to “carry” her audiences and bring them from tears to laughter and back again.” To strengthen the argument, the book includes political cartoons created in 1914 that portray the public’s view of her effectiveness. “Though she was not an official member of any political party, the amount o...