Not of the Same Feather: Cultural Appropriation in The Invention of Wings As problematic as it may be for a white Southern author to presume understanding of the psyche of a slave, Sue Monk Kidd embeds enough nuances in The Invention of Wings to make the fictionalized account of the Grimke sisters compelling and enlightening. Alternating between the voices of Hetty (Handful) and Sarah is the literary device Kidd relies on to demonstrate different perspectives and points of view, while also showing what Hetty and Sarah have in common too. In fact, Kidd shows how Sarah and Hetty develop the courage to rebel against social norms and even the law in order to make the world a better place. Symbolism also helps tie together the disparate worlds in which Hetty and Sarah live. Thick with symbolism related to the theme of flying and the freedom flight implies, The Invention of Wings also shows how gender and race intersect in oppressive, patriarchal societies. Setting is integral and indispensible in The Invention of Wings, a quintessentially Southern novel. Whereas the shift in point of view between the two main characters demonstrates their differences, symbols and setting illuminate the similarities between Hetty and Sarah.

Kidd capitalizes on the motif of slavery to as an overarching symbol of a more generalized oppression in The Invention of Wings. When Sarah first meets Handful, whose very nickname perpetuates her dehumanization, she has been complaining more about her longing to “escape the porcelain dolls,” the symbols of stereotypical girlhood, than about being trapped in a society that continues to buy and sell people (Kidd 8). Sarah then receives Hetty as a gift, as if Hetty too were just another doll, and suddenly Sarah’s humanitarian consciousness is awakened and she becomes determined to effect social change through her rebellion. Using Hetty almost exclusively...

Hetty exists mainly so that Kidd can paint a rosy picture of her white protagonist, even though the story does “present a cross-cultural female conversation,” (Grobman 10). Sarah dominates the cross-cultural conversation, even though Kidd’s opening chapter is told from Hetty’s point of view and Hetty of course features prominently throughout the novel. Hetty is not so much a character but an icon—the archetypal young domestic slave whose benevolent white mistress takes a liking to. If The Invention of Wings were not based on a true story, Kidd’s story would have represented unabashed cultural appropriation. As it is, the story does capture the real world struggles of those who become willing to make personal sacrifices to promote ethical goals.
Inventing wings, the symbolic act of subverting oppressive patriarchal and racist regimes, is the primary means by which Sarah and Hetty’s stories are tied together. Bird imagery also appears in ironic and subtle ways, such as when the Missus digs her fingernails into Hetty’s skin and Hetty imagines the marks look like “a flock of birds on my arm,” (Kidd 14). Indeed, this single sentence encapsulates Hetty’s character almost more than any other in the book because it shows how the stalwart young woman is determined to transform all the negativity in her life into opportunities for freedom and liberation. Other symbols Kidd uses in Invention include sewing and quilting: stereotypically female crafts. Sewing and quilting evoke imagery of threads: the symbolic threads that link together Sarah, Angelina, and Hetty. That sewing provides Hetty with a pathway towards…