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Mom Luby and the Social Worker - Literature Notes
Kristin Hunter, author of 'Mom Luby and the Social Worker', is an African American writer from Pennsylvania who was born in 1931, and died in 2008. She received a bachelors degree in 1951, from the University of Pennsylvania, and taught in the university's English department between 1972 - 1995.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristin_Hunter
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristin_Hunter
SUMMARY
This short story is about an elderly woman, fondly called Mom Luby, who fosters two small children. The story opens with her visit to the Social Welfare office, in order to obtain monetary assistance in taking care of the children. She then returns home to find people waiting to enter the speakeasy that she runs in her back room. There is a knock on the door, but instead of the police - coming to collect money - it is a social worker. The social worker, Miss Rushmore, visits in order to investigate the living conditions of the children. She is skeptical about some of the answers that Mom Luby gives, but gives her information about the many forms, along with lengthy directions, regarding the acquisition of clothes and shoes for the children. Mom Luby is astonished, yet slightly amused, about the length of time it could take to obtain clothes and shoes for the children. She responds by stating that she simply did not have enough time because she had a long list of chores to attend to. Miss. Rushmore volunteers to go along with Mom Luby, expressing her disbelief that she could accomplish so much in such a short time. They both return from completing the chores, with Miss Rushmore looking very bedraggled. She states that Mom Luby does not need her help because she got more things done in two hours than Miss Rushmore has managed to complete in two years. The great irony of the situation is revealed when Mom Luby comments that the Social Welfare office should consider hiring her, but Miss Rushmore comments that that is not possible because Mom Luby is not qualified.
SETTING
CHARACTERS
Mom Luby
Miss Rushmore
Elijah (narrator) & Puddin' - The two young children that Mom Luby fosters.
THEME
Love and Family Relationship
The love that Mom Luby has for her two young charges is apparent by her simple act of fostering them. She is a poor, older woman who runs a speakeasy to survive. This is not the profile of someone who should be willing to take care of two young children, as well as a whole community, yet she does. The act of visiting the Social Security Office is a testament to her commitment to taking care of the two children. The great irony in this short story is that a poor, older lady, is able to take better care of two little children than the State agency that is assigned to do so. This is because she can get more accomplished in two hours, to benefit them, than the agency can accomplish in two years with their most motivated agent.
Contributor: Leisa Samuels-Thomas
Hunter, K. 'Mom Luby and the Social Worker' in A World of Prose, edited by David Williams and Hazel Simmons-McDonald. (Harlow, Essex) Pearson Education, 2005.
This short story is about an elderly woman, fondly called Mom Luby, who fosters two small children. The story opens with her visit to the Social Welfare office, in order to obtain monetary assistance in taking care of the children. She then returns home to find people waiting to enter the speakeasy that she runs in her back room. There is a knock on the door, but instead of the police - coming to collect money - it is a social worker. The social worker, Miss Rushmore, visits in order to investigate the living conditions of the children. She is skeptical about some of the answers that Mom Luby gives, but gives her information about the many forms, along with lengthy directions, regarding the acquisition of clothes and shoes for the children. Mom Luby is astonished, yet slightly amused, about the length of time it could take to obtain clothes and shoes for the children. She responds by stating that she simply did not have enough time because she had a long list of chores to attend to. Miss. Rushmore volunteers to go along with Mom Luby, expressing her disbelief that she could accomplish so much in such a short time. They both return from completing the chores, with Miss Rushmore looking very bedraggled. She states that Mom Luby does not need her help because she got more things done in two hours than Miss Rushmore has managed to complete in two years. The great irony of the situation is revealed when Mom Luby comments that the Social Welfare office should consider hiring her, but Miss Rushmore comments that that is not possible because Mom Luby is not qualified.
SETTING
- The United States of America.
- Between 1920-1933, the time of the Prohibition in the United States.
CHARACTERS
Mom Luby
- An elderly woman who is as strong as any young woman.
- She has white hair and false teeth.
- She runs a speakeasy in the back room of her house.
- She fosters two young children.
- She is a midwife, herb doctor and ordained minister of the Gospel.
- She's a very productive woman who helps the people in her community.
- She is very proud.
Miss Rushmore
- She works at the Department of Child Welfare, Bureau of Family Assistance.
- She is very thorough in her investigation of Mom Luby.
- She is awed by Mom Luby's productivity.
Elijah (narrator) & Puddin' - The two young children that Mom Luby fosters.
THEME
Love and Family Relationship
The love that Mom Luby has for her two young charges is apparent by her simple act of fostering them. She is a poor, older woman who runs a speakeasy to survive. This is not the profile of someone who should be willing to take care of two young children, as well as a whole community, yet she does. The act of visiting the Social Security Office is a testament to her commitment to taking care of the two children. The great irony in this short story is that a poor, older lady, is able to take better care of two little children than the State agency that is assigned to do so. This is because she can get more accomplished in two hours, to benefit them, than the agency can accomplish in two years with their most motivated agent.
Contributor: Leisa Samuels-Thomas
Hunter, K. 'Mom Luby and the Social Worker' in A World of Prose, edited by David Williams and Hazel Simmons-McDonald. (Harlow, Essex) Pearson Education, 2005.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
TABLES
ESSAY QUESTIONS
