The World Made Straight is a 2006 novel by Ron Rash

Ron Rash

Ron Rash , an American poet, short story writer and novelist, is the Parris Distinguished Professor in Appalachian Cultural Studies at Western Carolina University. Rash was born in Chester, South Carolina, in 1953, grew up in Boiling Springs, North Carolina, and is a graduate of Gardner-Webb...

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Plot introduction

In 1970s Western North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

, a young man stumbles across a grove of marijuana, sees an opportunity to make some easy money, and steps into the jaws of a bear trap. He is discovered by the ruthless farmer who set the trap to protect his plants, and begins his struggle with the evils of his community’s present as well as those of its history. Before long, he has moved out of his parents' home to live with a onetime schoolteacher who now lives in a trailer outside town, deals a few drugs, and studies journals from the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. Their fates become entwined as the community's terrible past and corrupt present lead to a violent reckoning with the marijuana farmer and with a Civil War massacre that continues to divide an Appalachia

Appalachia

Appalachia is a term used to describe a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S...

n community. (adapted from dust jacket)

Characters in "The World Made Straight"

• Travis Shelton, 17 years old, high school dropout discouraged from bettering himself by his tobacco farmer father.
• Leonard Shuler, a former schoolteacher, now small-time drug dealer, whose career was ended by a vindictive student.
• Carlton Toomey, a ruthless and wily farmer and drug dealer.
• Dena, once a pretty young woman, who has become a heavy drug user.

Major themes

Knowledge vs. Ignorance - self knowledge is the most important part of the protagonist, Travis. Here Travis is trying to portray a tough guy, ignorant attitude when really he is a scrawny boy. Travis gains knowledge from the books he finds in Leonard’s trailer. He gains knowledge by Leonard teaching him in the trailer. Knowledge never leaves you. Travis’ goal as the protagonist in this book is to better himself and start a change in his life. Why would he want to better himself? Travis is trying to find out who he is. He starts off as a want to be tough guy who hangs with the rebels. That’s the way of life in the North Carolina Mountains no one really gives school a chance in the fact that most of the students end up as farmers. Travis’ ignorance for school and life in the beginning is very high. Knowledge consumes us in the fact we are always looking for new information and trying to obtain that all knowing self. Travis finds his way not the usual way of going through grade school but successfully gaining a GED. This sets him at an accomplishment something also his father never did.
Travis sees himself heading down a road of hardships, Success, and failure. But Travis will learn from the mistakes and gain knowledge of the subject and move on to better himself for the future and what ever it may hold.

Quotes from Ron Rash, regarding his novel (these are selected quotes spoken by Ron Rash at the University of West Georgia's Townsend Center in Carrollton, Ga., on Tuesday, October 23, 2007):

1. When asked why he chose to have Travis step into a bear trap, Rash responded, "Because it seemed more horrific that way...Traps like that actually happened around that area."

2. When asked why he chose to have Travis discover a pair of glasses, Rash responded, "I wanted him to see things in a different way...the perception of the past and the present."

3. When asked to describe a theme to his novel, regarding Travis's fascination with history books, Rash said, "We have to understand history, otherwise we are going to make the same mistakes."

4. When asked why he chose that particular location for the book (in the Appalachian Mountains), Rash stated matter-of-factly, "Landscape can determine our possibilities. The fact that Gatsby is from the Midwest says a lot about his character. He was able to foresee endless opportunities because he wasn't trapped by a surrounding mountainside."

Allusions/references to actual history, geography and current science

• The Shelton Laurel Massacre
  Shelton Laurel Massacre
  The Shelton Laurel Massacre refers to the execution of 13 accused Union sympathizers on or about January 18, 1863 by a Confederate regiment in the Shelton Laurel Valley of Madison County, North Carolina at the height of the American Civil War. The event sparked outrage among North Carolina...
  
  described in the book was based on a real Civil War incident of the same name. Shelton Laurel is a real place. The incident is the subject of a book, "Victims: A True Story of the Civil War," by Phillip Shaw Paludan, U of TN Press. http://www.amazon.com/Victims-True-Story-Civil-War/dp/1572333251

Sources, references, external links, quotations

• Book information on the publisher's website