Eugenics in The Girl In The Glass by Jeffrey Ford - Essay Example

Eugenics in The Girl In The Glass. Jeffrey Ford’s The Girl In The Glass had a setting in 1932. This social-political setting was the aftermathof the great Mexican immigration in 1924 when labor was needed and this demand was conveniently met by the immigrants. However by 1932, there was the reverse deportation when the economic effects of the Great Depression hit hard in America. Illegal, as well as legal Mexicans were no longer welcome because they took away jobs from the Americans. Hence the novel has a running theme on illegal Mexicans and how Isabel and Diego were at risk of deportation. (Ford 284). Ford tells that the Eugenics Record Office (ERO), which was a center for eugenics and hereditary research from 1910 – 1944, also had a prevalent role in the situation of that time. Another historical association was the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). They preached eugenics and they were Prohibitionists too. Ford wrote his mystery thriller based on the factors of immigration, Depression, Eugenics, KKK and Prohibitionists. My thesis is based upon the premise that Ford did not mean to write his novel as a history of eugenics in America but rather as a futuristic one to warn about the imminent dangers of eugenics. Eugenics was initially defined as the social philosophy and science to improve the human hereditary traits by purposeful methods. Ford makes Isobel mention the year, 1924, to frame the reference to the Immigration Act of 1924. (Ford 62). It was a United States federal law that limited the number of immigrants who could be admitted from any country to 2% of the number of people from that country who were already living in the United States in 1890. This was more of a goal in eugenics that aimed to exclude non- white races from the American gene pool. The eugenics doctor Agarias specializes in selective breeding or in-breeding of twins. Agarias believes that the third generation of twins in Morgan and Merlin had a unique type of blood. (Ford 232). Ford uses this set of twins’ pure, inbred bloodline to reiterate the old idea that selective breeding would preserve the Anglo blood in America. Ford goes one step farther when he makes Agarias say that; ‘“My theory is that Merlin’s special blood might negate, might cleanse, the tainted blood of half-breeds, like the Barnes girl. In other words, wash the Jew out of her.”’ (Ford 233). The Immigration Act of 1924 attempted to restrict the number of foreigners to preserve the gene pool of Anglo people while Agarias attempts to interfere with biological makeup to alter the bloodline. Ford’s book means to tell us that certain eugenics practices are not safe. Agarias transfused blood into Charlene Barnes and she died. (Ford 233). This is a reminder that eugenics uses methods that cannot be tested scientifically. This uncertainty is reflected in Agarias’ comment to call belief in his proposition that he thinks that the answer lies in Morgan’s blood, although he cannot offer any proof to back his hypothesis. Ford warned of the danger of eugenics in his example of Merlin. Diego describes Merlin as being deformed. (Ford 232). Agarias’ describes Merlin as; ‘“Mentally, he’s of subpar intelligence.”’ (Ford 233). In the novel, both Agarias and Diego know that inbreeding from incestuous relationships produce mutation. The eugenic of selective breeding is present in contemporary times. The Repository for Germinal Choice was a sperm bank that existed in California from 1980 to 1999. It only accepted contributors who were geniuses. China, Cyprus and some Jews practiced mandatory premarital and prenatal screenings to detect serious genetic diseases. Eugenics and the use of reproductive methods give rise to designer babies or reprogenetics. The predetermination of a baby’s sex is a type of eugenics. (Wikipedia). In the beginning of the novel, the KKK is mentioned as a possible suspected culprit in Charlotte Barnes’ murder because they practiced eugenics. (Ford 110). Charlotte was discovered in a cloth printed with the KKK’s symbol. Ford devised this because he wanted the real murderers to toss in a red herring to deceive the investigation. At the time of the setting of the novel, the KKK were known to be race haters who fought against the Catholics, Jews and immigrants. Brogan said; ‘“They were down on what they considered the dissolution of the white race by all of the foreigners coming into this country. And they were heavy supporters of Prohibition.”’ However, Ford knew that the KKK had very little presence at the time his novel was written in 2005 and thus he did not make them the chief perpetuators of eugenics. Ford knew that in the modern science of eugenics, the scientists were the main instruments so he made his fictional character, the mad scientist-researcher Agarias as the mastermind behind the eugenics experimental death of Charlotte Barnes. Ford wants to convey the cautionary message that eugenics is a pseudoscience. He does this in the conversation exchange between Diego and Agarias. (Ford 232 - 33). Ford showed the practice of eugenics in his novel’s setting of 1932, at the height of the eugenics movement with all the prevalent factors as discussed. He could have written the KKK to be the culprits in the novel but he used the eugenics movement instead because he knew that eugenics would have far reaching effects that would span into the twenty-first century. The End. Works Cited. Ford, Jeffrey. The Girl In The Glass. USA: Harper, 2005. “Eugenics.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 10 Mar. 2007. Wikipedia Foundation. 10 Mar. 2007. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics >. . 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