Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

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For the 1991 film adaptation, see Fried Green Tomatoes (film).

Title Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

First edition cover
Author	Fannie Flagg
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Fiction
Publisher	Random House
Released	August 12, 1987
Media type	Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages	403 pp
ISBN	ISBN 039456152X

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe is a 1987 bestselling novel by Fannie Flagg. In 1991 it was adapted into the film Fried Green Tomatoes.

Contents 1 Plot Summary 2 Trivia 3 Characters 4 Themes 5 Sources

[edit] Plot Summary

The story jumps narration and sequence and is distinctive in chapter opening visuals to establish the date and the source of the chapter. Some come from the fictional newspaper in Whistle Stop, Alabama called The Weems Weekly. Some come from the Couch's house in Birmingham, and others fill in some of the more intimate details of the stories told about the characters.

The story is told through many generations and begins in 1985 with an unfulfilled housewife named Evelyn Couch, who visits her bitter mother-in-law at an Alabama nursing home. In avoiding her mother-in-law, Evelyn meets nursing home resident Ninny Threadgoode, who begins to tell her random stories of her home in Whistle Stop, Alabama beginning in the 1920s. Evelyn becomes so interested in the stories of Whistle Stop that her life begins to take new meaning in the characters in Mrs Threadgoode's history.

Ninny Threadgoode grew up in a bustling house after being adopted by the Threadgoode family and eventually married one of the brothers. But her first love was young man Buddy Threadgoode, whose pet was the youngest girl, Idgie (Imogene) who was an outrageous tomboy, but learned her charm from Buddy. Buddy died tradically when he was hit by a train and high school-aged Idgie was devastated. Nothing civilized her until a few summers later when beautiful and virtuous Ruth Jamison came to live with the family while she taught Vacation Bible School. The family and servants watched as Idgie fell head over heels in love with Ruth, but when Ruth went home to Georgia to marry a man she was promised to, once more Idgie drank too much, and lived in the woods, and fell apart.

After a few years, Idgie went to check up on Ruth and discovered that her husband beat her. When Ruth's mother died of illness soon after, the printed obituary and the copied verse from the Book of Ruth was sent to the Threadgoode house, and Idgie, brother Julian, and cook Sipsey's son Big George went to Georgia to bring Ruth home. Ruth's husband Frank resisted, but Ruth came home and promised never to leave Idgie again. Father Threadgoode gave Idgie and Ruth money to open a cafe where Sipsey and her daughter-in-law Onzell cook and Big George, married to Onzell, makes the best barbecue in Alabama. The cafe became very popular, and then Ruth discovers she's pregnant.

Idgie and Ruth have a son and the cafe becomes known all over the US through the communication of hobos and men who ride trains, especially half-time Whistle Stop resident Smokey Lonesome. It has a reputation for feeding men down on their luck during the Great Depression, and Idgie and Ruth get in trouble from local law enforcement when they decide to serve black customers from the back door at lowered prices. It's about this point that Georgia detectives start asking about the suspicious disappearance of Ruth's ex-husband.

Evelyn Couch becomes so intwined in Mrs Threadgoode's stories that she begins to live them in her mind, and she realizes how purposeless her life has become and for what pointless reason she cared about what people thought about growing up. Overweight and virtually ignored by her husband, Evelyn becomes inspired by Idgie's boldness and audacity and creates an alter-ego named Towanda, a hyper-violent Amazon-like character who gets revenge on everything Evelyn thinks is wrong in the world. Scared by how good she feels in her violent thoughts, Evelyn confesses to Mrs Threadgoode what's happening. She gets a job with Mary Kay Cosmetics and at Mrs Threadgoode's suggestion, starts to take hormones for menopause.

For years the cafe ran, through World War II and into the 1950s. Idgie and Ruth's son grew up, and the lives of the townmembers moved on. But when Ruth died of cancer, the life went out of the cafe. Soon after, Idgie herself was arrested along with Big George for the murder of Frank Bennett when his car was found at the bottom of a lake outside of Whistle Stop. They both get off at the trial when the local minister, paying Idgie back for anonymously bailing his son out of jail, lies on the stand and testifies that she and Big George were at a 3-day revival the weekend Frank Bennett went missing. The case is dismissed as Bennett's body was never found, but it is revealed in the last chapter that Sipsey killed him as he came in to kidnap Ruth's infant son, by slamming a cast-iron skillet on his head. Big George barbecued the body and Sipsey buried the head in the Threadgoode's garden.

Evelyn gets called home from a weight loss camp when Mrs Threadgoode passes away, and Evelyn visits her grave driving her new pink Cadillac. After visiting her grave, Evelyn notices a note from Idgie on Ruth's grave, placed there moments before.

[edit] Trivia

• The "Whistle Stop Cafe" is loosely based on a real-life restaurant, the Irondale Cafe in Irondale, Alabama approximately between 1915 and 1935. The restaurant is still very much in operation and somewhat of a local tourist attraction, thanks to the novel and major motion picture. It is famous for its fried green tomatoes, and is located adjacent to the main line of the Norfolk Southern Railroad (formerly Southern Railway) and very near one of the line's large classification yards. Irondale is a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, Flagg's birthplace.

• Idgie and Ruth were based on Fannie Flagg's Aunt Bess and "her friend", who are characters in Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man as a zany aunt who plays jokes on everyone and shoots up the floor of her cafe to break up fights.

• The "Whistle Stop Cafe" where they filmed the movie is in Juliette, GA.

• The book contains a list of recipes for the most widely discussed dishes.

[edit] Characters

• Evelyn Couch - one of the protagonists; an unfulfilled housewife who seems lost and without direction and who becomes empowered after listening to Mrs Threadgoode's stories of the characters of Whistle Stop and Idgie in particular.

• Ed Couch - Evelyn's clueless and self-absorbed husband.

• Ninny Threadgoode - patient in the Rose Terrace Nursing Home along with Ed's mother; She is 86 when Evelyn knows her, but recounts her memories starting about when she was 11 years old. She married into the Threadgoode family, but grew up with them after having been adopted unofficially.

• Idgie Threadgoode - the youngest girl of the Threadgoode family who is known for her irreverent and downright shocking behavior for a young lady in the 1920's and 30's. She has Buddy's irrestistable charm but can't stay away from poker, booze, and her "Dill Pickle Club" which is created for the sole reason of making up as many outrageous lies as possible.

• Ruth Jamison - known for her arresting beauty and sweetness. Idgie falls in love with her and she with Idgie, but she goes home to Georgia to fulfill a promise to marry an abusive alcoholic who later disappears under suspicious circumstances after Idgie brings her back.

• Stump Threadgoode - Ruth's son who is also raised by Idgie. His real name is Buddy Jr., but his arm was amputated in a train accident when he was 8 years old and Idgie insisted on calling him Stump to get used to the names he would be called.

• Sipsey Peavy - a cook who has been with the Threadgoode family since she was a girl; Big George's adopted mother. It was her idea to bury Frank Bennett's head in the garden because she was superstitious that any wild animal that came into the house had to have its head buried. Killed Frank Bennett when he tried to kidnap Stump as an infant.

• Onzell Peavy - Big George's wife and a cook in the cafe. Ruth's closest friend and nurse when she was ill with cancer.

• Big George Peavy - the expert responsible for the barbecue at the cafe. Took the blame of Frank's disappearance for his mother who was elderly by the time anyone was charged for it.

• Artis O. Peavey - Big George and Onzell's son; was drawn to and lived in the black section of Birmingham called Slagtown. Watched his grandmother kill Frank Bennett and helped his father barbecue the body.

• Jasper Peavey - Artis' twin and much lighter colored brother who became a Pullman Porter.

• Smokey Lonesome - a tramp who lived in the shed behind the cafe a few months out of the year and was a member of Idgie's Dill Pickle Club; was silently in love with Ruth from the day he met her.

• Eva Bates - ran the local honky tonk and had a reputation for having loose morals; Idgie's good friend.

• Officer Curtis Smoote - Georgia detective in charge of finding Frank Bennett, and years later the judge presiding over Idgie and Big George's trial; had a daughter raped and impregnated by Frank Bennett.

• Grady Kilgore - Whistle Stop's sheriff and a founding member of Idgie's Dill Pickle Club.

• Reverend Scroggins - Whistle Stop's teetotaller and Baptist preacher; Idgie's nemesis who preached against Eva Bates and her friends. His testimony saved Idgie and Big George at their trial.

[edit] Themes

Feminism was a theme in the novel, as Evelyn Couch became a symbol of lost housewives who felt they had no direction. The "Towanda!" bumper sticker became popular in the 1990s after a very famous scene in the book and movie of Evelyn exacting revenge on a younger woman who stole her parking space. Ruth's feeling of being trapped in her marriage with an abusive husband is another part of this theme.

Lesbianism was a theme in the novel, as the relationship between Idgie and Ruth was curiously celebrated by the entire town of Whistle Stop. Although it wasn't labeled a lesbian relationship, every resident knew of Idgie and Ruth, accepted it and loved them for who they were. This relationship was minimized in the film version of "Fried Green Tomatoes" when the events placed Ruth and Buddy Threadgoode together, and Idgie and much younger than Ruth, suggesting that Ruth loved Idgie because she was Buddy's sister.

Racism in the American South is a major theme.

• Sipsey, Onzell, Big George and their children are explored as characters. When Big George is put on trial with Idgie, Sipsey's fear is that he will do time in prison which is significantly more miserable as a black person.
• Big George's son Artis does time in Kilbey Prison for assaulting a dogcatcher in the city of Birmingham.
• Artis' life on the black side of Birmingham during the 1930s and 1940s is described exquisitely in the book.
• Artis' brother is a Pullman Porter.
• Frank Bennett spies on his infant son under the pretense of being in a Ku Klux Klan exercise to intimidate Idgie and Ruth for serving to black customers.

Aging is a theme, as Evelyn goes through her change of life and watches Mrs Threadgoode at 86 years old begin to lose her focus and deteriorate.

[edit] Sources

• Fried Green Tomatoes Summary Character section was used.