A Review of the book Packinghouse Daughter by Cheri Register Essay

A Review of the book Packinghouse Daughter by Cheri Register - Essay Example But she is only reflecting the 'beatnik' or 'hippy' point of view of the 1960's. Her hindsight at this stage of her life is evident in her work, but she does keep some childish perspective as she talks about her youth. Memories of her dad are that he talked about making knives at work and she called him a "millwright". It isn't until later that she speaks to the actual work he did butchering up animals. Like many kids who discover the reality of their parents' work world, she is not willing, or able, to give his real work the same dignity that she gives a millwright. But after describing the 'rich' kids at school, the white-collar suburban kids, she says that people from her town are "too moral" to do the things necessary to become rich, assuming that the only way to acquire money is to be dishonest. Another assumption is that they are all Republicans who would sell you out in a minute, unlike her Democratic roots. There is a pretty strong irony at the conclusion of the book where Register says that her parents end up living in the same assisted living facility as the former Governor and Mrs. Freeman. They bridge their social divide when Mr. Register shows the former Governor how to set the controls on his exercise bicycle and they have dinner together. In the second and thir... Unions are strong and important but are still aimed toward obtaining basic working conditions for union members. Being part of a union house holds its own merit. The strike at the plant lasts 109 days, about 3-1/2 months, which can be a long time for someone who has worked for years every day, and also for his family. Register doesn't write about her mother as much as she does her dad. The mother, maybe a typical housewife of the era, is in the background as a nice, supportive woman. Register does seem to have a lot of family and friends in Albert Lea. Friendships become strained as a result of the strike that threatens the economy of the area. Many people are opposed to it. But the strength of the union members' principles holds fast and after a violent patch, in which the Governor of Minnesota has to call in the National Guard and threatens to close the plant, they win their case and return to work. This memoir includes historical research and interviews with its personal memories. It crosses the lines that clarify what type of book it is this way. By doing this it sets itself apart from traditional memoirs or historical fiction. It won the American Book Award and the Minnesota Book Award for autobiography. Summary In the first chapter, The Blue Workshirt, Register relates how she wants to buy a blue work shirt from her hometown Montgomery Ward while on school break so that she can align herself with the campus radicals who, as Register puts it, "use fashion to decry fashion" (pp. 9-10). Register does not even want to call her folks 'parents' because she feels it is too "haughty" a word. After being in New York for the first semester of school,, she