Mom Luby

and the Social

Worker
Kristen Hunter
About The Author – Kristen Hunter
● Kristen Elaine Hunter (September 12, 1931-November 14, 2008) was an African-American writer
from Pennsylvania.

● She sometimes wrote under the name Kristen Hunter Lattany. She is best known for her first
novel, “God Bless the Child”, published in 1964.

● Hunter was born Kristen Elaine Eggleston in Philadelphia to George L. Eggleston and Mabel
Manigault, and attended Haddon Heights High School until 1947.

● When she was 14, she began writing a column about young people for the Pittsburgh Courier and
continued to do so until 1952, the year after she graduated from the University of Pennsylvania,
where she received her bachelor’s degree in Education.

● In 1955, she won a national television competition for her script Minority of One. Her first and
most acclaimed novel, “God Bless the Child”, was published in 1964, and won the Philadelphia
Athenaeum Literary Award.
About The Author – Kristen Hunter
● Like most of her work, it confronts complex issues of race and gender. Her collection of short
stories, Guests in the Promised Land, was nominated for the National Book Award.

● In 1972, she began teaching in the English department at the University of Pennsylvania,
eventually retiring from the university in 1995. She was also a visiting professor at Emory
University in Atlanta, Georgia. She received the Moonstone Black Writing Celebration Lifetime
Achievement Award in 1996.

● She died in 2008, aged 77, of a heart attack after collapsing in her home, in Magnolia, New Jersey.
Summary
● Mom Luby and the Social Worker examines a day in the life of Mom Luby, an elderly woman who is
caring for two children, Elijah and Arlethia (aka Puddin’), while simultaneously operating a
Prohibition-era speakeasy out of the back of her house.
● The tale opens with Mom Luby seeking financial assistance from the Social Welfare office so that
she may better provide for her foster children; this request prompts a home visit from a social
worker named Miss Rushmore who has been tasked with evaluating the living conditions of Elijah
and Puddin’.
● Although Miss Rushmore has her doubts about Mom Luby, she provides her with instructions on
the lengthy process of applying to receive assistance, particularly for new clothing for the children.
● Mom Luby claims that she does not have enough time to go through such a process and winds up
proving this fact to Miss Rushmore by bringing her along on her errands.
● At the end of the two hour time period, Miss Rushmore is exhausted and realizes that Mom Luby
has accomplished far more in two hours than Miss Rushmore has accomplished in two years.
Summary
● They returned to the speakeasy where the interview continued. Even though Mom Luby was told
that she does not qualify for State Aid, Miss Rushmore is in awe of Mom Luby because she has
accomplished so many tasks in just two hours. Mom Luby jokingly suggests she is hired to work in
the government office.

● Miss Rushmore reminds her that she is unqualified and leaves as everyone laughs.
● Mom Luby accepts that Miss Rushmore has a point “You need an education to fill out forty pieces
of paper for one pair of shoes.” And they continued with their normal life style.
Setting
● The story is set in the United States in America between 1920-1933, during the time of the
Prohibition in the United States.

● Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, production and transportation of
alcohol, in place from 1919 to 1933.

● The dry movement was led by rural Protestants in both political parties and was coordinated by
the Anti-Saloon League.

● Events in the story took place on Division Street.

● The characters lived in a home with a ‘speakeasy’ at the back.
First-Person Narrative
● Narrated in the first person by a young 13 year-old boy named Elijah.
Characters
● Mom Luby
● Miss Rushmore
● Elijah
● Puddin’
Mom Luby
● Mom Luby, is an old woman who takes care of orphan children, Elijah and Arlethia (Puddin’).
However, she is unable to properly support them so she goes to the Welfare Office seeking
financial aid but in order to qualify for it, she tells an unbelievable lie about being their
mother.

● Although elderly, she is as strong as any young woman. She has white hair and false teeth.
She runs a speakeasy in the back room of her house. She fosters two young children.

● She is a midwife, herb doctor and ordained minister of the Gospel.

● Mom Luby puts Elijah and his sister Puddin’ before everyone else. She knows that it is her
responsibility to look after them and as such goes to the government building seeking help
(welfare). This may be important as Mom Luby knows that she is not entitled to welfare for
the children but as they have no one else to look after them she takes on the responsibility.
Mom Luby
● Whereas others might let Elijah and Puddin’ fend for themselves. Mom Luby knows that this
is not an option. If anything, Mom Luby is driven by an innate sense of duty and
responsibility towards Elijah and Puddin’, knowing very well that their lives would be even
more difficult should they be left to their own devices.

● In reality, Mom Luby is Elijah and Puddin’s mother in everything but name. She treats both
children as though they are her own. She is kind to them and firm when she needs to be.
Miss Rushmore
● She works at the Department of Child Welfare, Bureau of Family Assistance. Her role is to help
families with children who are in need.
● She is very thorough in her investigation of Mom Luby, and though she asks the right questions,
she was not very knowledgeable.
● She is awed by Mom Luby’s productivity.
● Unlike Mom Luby, she is qualified to be a social worker, due to her “education”.
● She seems to frown upon Mom Luby being able to complete so many jobs that should be done by a
qualified person.
● It may also be important to note that Miss Rushmore spends all of her time in Mom Luby’s home
asking Mom Luby questions…questions that Mom Luby may not necessarily have the right answer
for.
Miss Rushmore
● Miss Rushmore also appears to be judging Mom Luby’s extracurricular activities when
the reality is she is a poor woman who is providing service to other poor people.
● It is as though there is a disconnect between Miss Rushmore and Mom Luby, with Miss
Rushmore being in disbelief as to how Mom Luby lives her life.
Elijah
● He is the 13 year-old child narrator.
● He is a boy and appears smart, yet he is undoubtedly innocent.
● He assists Mom Luby around the house and with the business.
● He appears responsible as the customers often send him on errands.
Puddin’
● Her real name is Arlethia.
● She is the narrator’s five year-old sister.
● She is extremely fat.
● She is fascinated with the adult world as we see she likes to hang around grownups.
Themes
● Love and Family Relationships
● Social Injustice
● Womanhood
● Hardship
● Responsibility
● Bureaucracy
● Connection
● Kindness
● Innocence
● Change
Love and Family Relationships
● The love that Mom Luby has for her two young charges is apparent by her simple act of
fostering them.

● She is a poor, older woman who runs a speakeasy to survive. This is not the profile of
someone who should be willing to take care of two young children, as well as the whole
community, yet she does.

● The act of visiting the Social Security Office is a testament to her commitment to taking care
of the two children.

● The great irony in this short story is that a poor, older lady, is able to take better care of two
little children that the State agency that is assigned to do so.

● This is because she can get some accomplished in two hours, to benefit them, than the
agency can accomplish in two years with their most motivated agent.
Hardship
● The story was set in a time where the American economy went into relapse, hence American
citizens (both black and white) were experiencing financial stagnation and hardship. As a result,
persons were unable to meet basic needs and fell below the poverty line.

● The theme of hardship and poverty is explored in the story “Mom Luby and the Social Worker”. It
was evident when Mom Luby was seeking state aid to assist her in purchasing clothes for Puddin’
who is five years old.

● Mom Luby may be described as an active and resourceful individual. She had to be this person
whether by choice or by force. She wore many hats including: herbalist, minister, midwife and she
even took on the role of running a speakeasy (which was an illegal operation all in an attempt to
make ends.

● Even so, these additional means of earning a living proved at times to be somewhat unfruitful as
some persons were unable to pay her for her services due to lack of money.
Narrative Techniques
● Contrast
● Irony
● Satire
Contrast
● It helps us to emphasize the attributes of both characters.
● It helps to make the authors’ arguments stronger which makes them more memorable.
● It can also entertain us or create humour.
● It can create a change in mood, atmosphere, heightens the actions, or even create a
balanced structure in the plot.
● Mom Luby and the Social Worker is therefore an interesting story because it points out
the flaws in a system and shows the efficiency of that system to carry out a job it was
particularly designed to do.
● The system is challenged by an older woman who runs a speakeasy to make ends meet
and who is an uncertified herbal doctor, preacher and has two children to look after.
● This contrast is hilarious because it invites the reader to condemn the system and
continue with their life without the hassle of state aid. “We’ll do just fine. “ Mom Luby
says.
Irony
● Irony can be used to create humor.
● Irony can be used to help highlight the conflict and characters’ interaction.
● Irony can be used to highlight thematic concerns and reveal the main characters.
● The ironic twist of the ending involves Mom Luby suggesting that the Social Welfare office
should hire her due to her productivity, but Miss Rushmore protesting that Mom Luby is not
qualified for such a position. This point is undermined by Miss Rushmore’s own inadequacy
as a productive member of society in her very own line of work, whereas the “unqualified”
Mom Luby is more than capable.
Satire
● Satire is a literary device that uses wit or irony to expose and ridicule a human weakness.
● The inefficiency of the bureaucratic procedures is satirized in this story. Kristen Hunter
uses humor and satire to comment on the welfare system in the story.

● The humorous incident is the encounter with a social worker named Miss Rushmore. Miss
Rushmore enters the world of Mom Luby in order to investigate the living conditions of
Elijah and Puddin’, after Mom Luby makes a request for state aid.

● Her very dress is stereotypical of office workers of a bureaucratic agency and her reactions
to Mom Luby’s probing questions like “Do you have a man?” are funny.
Satire
● What is humorous is that by the end of the story Miss Rushmore’s apparent composure is
dispelled and she appears dishevelled and bedraggled after she gets a real dose of Mom
Luby’s everyday workload.

● She says Mom Luby “got more done in two hours then she could do in two years.” This
statement is also satirical and pokes fun at the Social Welfare System.