Peabody's+Help

In one of Dewey's section she says that Peabody could help her in some great way, but he does not know it. At first, I could not understand how a doctor could help Dewey, but then I remember Dewey is pregnant. I think that Dewey would like Peabody to give her an abortion. Perhaps the entire family does not know about the baby yet and in this time a child out of wedlock would be greatly looked down upon. Also, I think that Dewey having sex with Lafe was a bit of a mistake considering she said she just could not help it. I think that this child she is carrying is a mistake and Peabody could save her a lot of trouble if he would help her with an abortion.1202764527

I disagree, Matt. Back then, in the south, the majority of the population was socially conservative, particularly the older folks. Dewey is the obvious exception. Therefore, I don't think the old Dr. Peabody would commit such an immoral act as an abortion. Furthermore, if Dewey really wanted to get an abortion, she would have had one in a way in which nobody else would no but her. She would do it herself. How, exactly, I do not want to know. Will she murder her child. We will see.1202867334

I heard this theory before. . . . and I feel kind of stupid. Where did it say she was pregnant?

To Whoever asked the above question: the novel doesn't go right out and say it, but there are major hints that Dewel Dell is pregnant. In her chapter on pg. 26-27, she talks about how Darl knows something, and from the context clues of the first big paragraph on pg.27, it's safe to say that Dewey Dell and Lafe had sex and Darl knows about it. Later on, Dewey Dell mentions that "God gave women a sign when something has happened bad." (58). Well, we all know that when an unmarried couple have sex, it's just the girl who has the ability to carry the evidence of it because she's the only one who can get pregnant. DD then says, "If I could just feel it [which refers to the baby], it would be different because I would not be alone. But if I were not alone [meaning if she //looked// pregnant], everybody would know it." Next, she goes and chases after Vardaman in the barn. She stops by the moaning cow whose udder is full of milk and says to it, "You'll just have to wait. What you got in you aint nothing to what I got in me, even if you are a woman too" (63). 1202955644

Yes, it was cleared up in class that Dewey is in fact pregnant. There is also a reference to it when she is speaking of her own and Peabody's guts. I am with you, MHa, in thinking that Dewey wants an abortion from Peabody. How else could Peabody help her? Darl is the only one in the family thus far that knows of her pregnancy, and she feels resentment towards him because of it. This would make me think that she does not want anyone to find out about it...Yet if she is planning to give birth to it, people are certainly bound to find out about it. I too see Lafe and Dewey having sex was a misjudgment, overshadowed by desire and what must have been lust. Dewey had tried to rationalize it and remove the responsibility from herself, and if she does not want to take responsibility for her actions, she must not be too proud of them. 1203121255

Is it possible that Dewey is looking for Peabody's help in delivering the baby or somehow getting rid of it (in a way other than abortion)? I don't think that abortion was a popular method of ending birth at that time, and I doubt that Peabody would be willing to help her kill her baby, but it seems possible that since her mother was dying, and she would have probably been the main person to go to for help, that Dewey was hoping to get some advice or help from the doctor. She must have trusted Peabody somewhat, considering he was the family doctor and he probably helped in her delivery, along with those of her brothers, and so she probably felt that he could somehow be helpful in her pregnancy. Maybe she thought that he could help her find some means of supporting the baby because she didn't think her family would help her, with her mother dead and her father and brothers concerned with farming and horses. 1203375329

I don't think there's much to argue here. It's a pretty much indusputable fact that a) she's pregnant b) she wants an abortion c) she needs to find a doctor that can help her d) she's doing this because she wants to hush the situation. I mean, we even read that she wants to keep it a secret. No one knows, her brother has guessed, sure, but that's all, and frankly it's mentioned that no one knows of her secret, and that sex and her child are all she thinks about, even more than the death of her mother. If you can find anything to the contrary, I challenge you, but it was supposed to be a not-so-subtle hint to the reader that she was looking for doctors for an abortion at that moment when she speaks of Peabody's help. He's an interesting fellow, and helps the various characters out in the play, like Cash with his injury, but she doesn't go to him, and keeps her thoughts to herself instead seeking a city doctor. 1204170885