The Water is Wide

One of my favorite authors is Pat Conroy and one of his books that is on my favorite list is The Water is Wide. I read the book about two years ago and have been trying to find a copy of one of the two movie adaptations ever since. The first move was titled Conrack (the way the students pronounced Conroy’s name) and starred Jon Voight. It was made in 1974. The movie is not available on DVD and a very used VHS copy sells for over $80 (too rich for my blood). The Water is Wide was a Hallmark Hall of Fame TV Movie made in 2006. I just found it on DVD two weeks ago. According to the published reviews, both are faithful to the book, which is autobiographical. Conroy tells the story of when he took a teaching job (1969) a couple of years after graduation from the Citadel. The job is at a two room schoolhouse on an isolated island off the coast of South Carolina. Before discussing the movie, a little review of the backstory may be helpful.

The name of the island in the book and movies is Yamacraw Island. However, the name of the actual island where Conroy taught is Daufuskie Island. Following is a portion of the history of the island from the Daufuskie Island Historical Society’s webpage.

“Plantation owners and slaves fled the island at the start of the Civil War. Union troops then occupied the island. After the war, freed slaves (Gullah people) returned to the island, purchasing small plots of land or working for landowners. The boll weevil destroyed the cotton fields in the early 1900's. Logging and the Maggioni Oyster Canning Factory provided jobs for the predominately Gullah populated island at the turn of the 20th century. Oysters continued to be harvested and shucked on the island after the cannery closed and were shipped elsewhere for processing. Daufuskie Island oysters were sold world-wide. Life was hard, made more so by being cut off from the mainland. As a result, island residents created a caring, close-knit community, one crossing racial lines.

“When pollution in the Savannah River closed the oyster beds in the 1950's, the island's economy declined. The Gullah began to leave the island for better opportunities. By the 1980's the population of the island decreased from a high of around 2,000 to less than 60. At that time developers came to the island, and Haig Point, Melrose, Oakridge and Bloody Point were subsequently built. The island's Historic District has retained its breathtaking natural beauty. The entire island is on the National Register of Historic Places.”

By the time Conroy takes the teaching job on Yamacraw Island he has developed a decidedly rule-breaking disposition. He was raised in a home that was dominated by a strict, military father (The Great Santini) and had attended a military college (The Lords of Discipline). He was in full rebellion against strict, rule-centered institutions. When he arrives at the school, he is introduced to the principle and co-teacher, Mrs. Brown. She is African-American educated in a private school that instilled the notion that it is more important to teach the “colored” children proper behavior than to be overly concerned with formal education. She is thoroughly convinced that the way to success is through generous doses of corporal punishment.

Conroy discovers the first day that his students (5th through 8th grades) are mostly illiterate and not a single one knows what country they live in. He and Mrs. Brown quickly clash. In one scene she gives him textbooks for the students and makes sure that he understands that the rules of the School Board required each student to finish the book before the end of the year. He asks how he is to accomplish that when the students can’t read. She tells him the rules require him to do it and it is his problem to work out the “how.” He does find ways to teach them through music, both popular and classical, stories that he makes up out of historical or geographical facts, and field trips around the island.

When Conroy arrives on the island, none of the parents (or grandparents) of the children will have anything to do with him. It is easy to get the impression that this is because he is white (the only other whites on the island are a husband and wife who serve all the roles of government on the island: fireman, policeman, school bus driver, postmistress, librarian, etc.). What Conroy finally discovers is that the parents have been told for years by Mrs. Brown that she is responsible for the school and education of their children and they are to stay away. Conroy is able to breakdown this barrier and get the parents back involved. His first success is when he discovers that one of the children is practically deaf and has developed powerful defense mechanisms so he won’t be teased by the other children. He goes to see the boy’s grandmother and assures her that he knows about the deafness and that the other children will not torment him any longer. He wins over the heart of the grandmother who is a most respected member of the Gullah community. From that time on, parents begin to feel that they can have a part in the education of their children.

Mrs. Brown complains to the school board officials about Conroy and, at the end of his first year he is dismissed for failure to follow the rules. The Gullah community objects and demands that they be in charge of their school. Conroy is not rehired but the educational environment on the island has been changed, including Mrs. Brown’s attitude and approach.

This is a great and true story about what one man can do to change a horrible situation. As an interesting sidebar to the movies, the cast of the 1974 movie had a reunion in 1996. Of the 20+ actors who played the children, 19 attended the reunion. Of those 16 had become teachers. Most credited the experience of the movie with their desire to become educators.

It is sad to me that the source of income for these “island” people was taken away by industrial pollution that was allowed to continue unabated until any hope of recovering the oyster beds was gone. And now, in place of a community of hard working people who preserved a culture that was centuries old, we have gated neighborhoods full of multimillion dollar homes. And there is no record that the Gullah people received anything other than a pittance for their land. It reminds me of the Bible passage that warns about those who have little will have even that taken away.