Olive, Again

Olive, Again is has an intimate, personal tone. It is concerned with the everyday lives and thoughts of the characters as they search for understanding and meaning. Strout situates the book in contemporary rural America, and probes issues that the United States is facing today. The book, published in 2019, spans two presidencies. It addresses social politics, specifically those faced by rural citizens, in the present-day United States.

Strout refers to both the Obama and Trump presidencies without naming them. However it is clear, through Olive’s descriptions, who Strout is talking about. In “The Poet,” Andrea refers to meeting the president and his wife; the reader is made to understand that she is referring to Barack and Michelle Obama. Of them, Olive reflects—“he was smart, and his wife was smart, and what a hell of a job he had, with Congress being so horrible to him. She would be sorry to see him go” (201). 

Strout places the book in the larger, American framework, allowing political commentary to subtly enter the text. In “Heart,” she takes it a step further when Olive is horrified to see her home health aide’s “bumper sticker for that horrible orange-haired man who was president” (248). With one phrase, Strout has located the story in time and conveyed Olive’s attitude toward Donald Trump.

Olive is socially liberal and an avowed Democrat, which pushes against the stereotype of the so-called typical elderly, rural American. Her politics are rarely stated in the text explicitly, but the way she responds to others often illustrates her beliefs. When it comes to politics, Jack often acts as a foil for Olive, as he illustrates her beliefs through opposing views. He is a Republican and she is a Democrat, and their confrontations often revolve around their relative conservative and liberal social politics. Jack, for example, is unable to accept his daughter when he learns she is gay, which Olive continually chides him for. She also confronts him when he makes a bigoted statement about Somali people living in Shirley Falls. In “Pedicure,” she corrects Elaine’s reference to the “Somalian” population, informing her that the correct term is “Somali.” Elaine, a professor at Smith College, is offended that this elderly rural woman is correcting her, perhaps reflecting her own prejudices about rural Americans.

All this is not to say that Olive is a liberal saint without prejudices of her own. She grapples with her own bias against wealthy urbanites, as does Margaret in “The Exiles.” Olive also engages in what Jack refers to as “reverse snobbery,” looking down upon those who indulge in luxuries like pedicures and first-class plane tickets. She judges Betty and has trouble accepting her due to the bumper sticker on Betty’s car, which obviously supports Trump. Still, at the end of “Heart,” Olive gets beyond the surface of their politics. She recognizes that Betty is struggling, as she is, to find meaning and happiness in her life.

In particular, Olive is ashamed of her prejudice against people with French Canadian ancestry, which her mother espoused and is common in the area. In “The Poet,” Olive assumes the worst of Andrea due to her French Canadian ancestry and immediately feels ashamed. Strout shows readers another perspective in “The Walk;” Denny Pelletier, who is French Canadian, deals with the impact of prejudice on his own life. 

Strout weaves American politics into the text by setting the collection in a small, rural town, and by portraying an elderly protagonist who appears set in her ways. She explores the prejudices of liberals and conservatives, and of urban and rural dwellers. Although Olive, Again is not an overtly political text, it delves into the social politics and partisan prejudices that inform the contemporary American landscape.