Friendship In Fried Green Tomatoes

Friendship is the relationship between two or more more people who trust, have faith and are concerned with the welfare of each other.Relationship involves intimacy and mutual care for one another.A good friend has the responsibility of accepting good and bad qualities of his friends and one who is ready to help his friend in changing bad traits.Friends should love each other and have faith in whatever their friends tell them.Friendship has to do with undertsnding and caring for one another.A relationship based on this qualities makes friends to have a good feeling and smile because of the love and care which is given to him.In some cases people do not remain to be friends for a long period of time for instance when people disagree with each other and seize to be friends. When making friends people should be careful because all friends may not be good. Some friends will only be for you during the times of happiness but they run away when problems arises.These are not good friends because you cannot depend on them.Good friends will always sacrifice to be with you during good and bad moments of your life and they will understand your strong and weakpoints (Fanny 10).

Having friends is a very important aspect in life. One may have all the necessities needed in life like money, good house, clothing but still friends are needed. Human beings are depend on one another and they can not survive all alone.There are some things that other people must do for you and therefore its very important to have people around you.If for example one gets sick, he/she will need other people to take them to the hospital making friends very important to the lives of individuals.Friendship is therefore something which all people should have in order to have peace of mind (Fanny 15). There are different kinds of friendships for example friendship based on utility. In this kind of friendship, people become friends so that they can benefit personally. For example people who come together and start a business.They do not spend most of their times together and they may not like each other.A very common form of friendship is one which is based on pleasure.This is a friendship between two people with the aim of gaining pleasure from one another.This kind of friendship occurs mainly between people of different sexes who have love and affection for one another.The main aimof this friendshilp is compabnionship and these people may end up marrying one another. Being a very important aspect of life, i will discuss friendship in the movie Fried Green Tomatoes basing my arguiment on one relationship.

Fried Green Tomatoes was a novel written in 1987 by Fannie Flagg which later came to be adaptedas a movie in 1991.It was a commedy drama which was based on the novel and it was lreleased in the United States bearing the full name of the novel.The film was directed by Jon Avnet and written by Fannie Flaggin conjunction with Carol Sobieki. The film is about of twowomen Ruth and Idgie at a time when they have difficulties in their friendships.There is also another friendshipwhich ekxisted in 1980s between Evelyn a woman of a middle age and Ninny an old woman.Ninny knew ruth and Idgie.The story dwells much on the murder of ruths husb,and who was abusive and the accusations which came after he was murdered. The film received two academy awards and critics of film were positive in the poem.The people who were making the view criticized it because the group which reviewed the book ignored the contents about lesbian (Fanny 28).

The film begins with Evelyn Couch a house wife aged around 40 years who mwas timid and unhappy coming in to contact with Ninny Threadgoode in a Birminghamfond in a nursing home called Alabama. Ninny and Evelyn visit each other several times during which Evelyn tells her about a town in Alabama called Whistle Stop which had been occupied by people sometimes back but they had moved from that place (Fanny 30). She tells her stories of people who used to occupy that town.She begins the story by telling about Idgie Threadgoode the youngest of her children but who during her description is reffered to as her sister in law.Idgie had a brother who was a good friend of him but he died through an accident by a train.After the death of his brother whoi meant alot to his life, he moved away from his society where he spend most of his childhood and adolescent stages. She stayed away from his family until Ruth Jamison the former girlfriend of his brother is requested by his family to intervene so that they can become friends. She refused to befriend Ruth in the first stages but after some time she found a space in her heart to have feelings for her.Frank Bennette befriends Ruth and marries her after which they moved fromWhistle Stop town and settles in Valdosta, Georgia. The act of Ruth getting married annoyed Idigie because she lost her friend .It was a hard task for her to forget ruth but she tried hard to forget her. She later paid a visit to Ruth who was already carrying a baby but her husband Frank abused her.Idgie pleads with Ruth to leave her husband and accompany her back to Whistle Stop.Ruth accepted but Frank was against the idea.It is at Whistle Stop that Ruth gave birth to a baby named Buddy Jr. Idgie was given money to open a business so that she can cater for the needs of Ruth and her baby. Ruth and Idgie opened a cafe at Whistle Stop Town called Whistle Stop Cafe. They employed Sipsey and Big George her son as cooks.These cooks made barbeque which became popular with their patrons within a short period of time.

Frank paid a visit to Whistle Stop town with the aim of kidnapping Buddy Jr. But he was killed by an assailant who was not recognized. For some time frank could not be found and his car was found at the bottom of a sea around the town.Idgie is suspected to be responsible of Franks death because she had threatened him publicly because of beating her friend Ruth. Idgie and Big George were arrested as suspects for the murder of Frank (Fanny 38). The police wanted torelease her and pin the crime to Big George alone but she refused to betray her friend.The judge during the trial says that the two clients were not aware of the diappearance of Frak because had had gone on a three day journey but it was a lie.In addition to that he says that Frank was always drunk and his death cloud have resulted from an accident.Idgie and her friend are cleared of the charges and released.Ruth died soon after the trial as a result of cancer.The Cafe closed after Ruth died and many people who stayed in Whistle Stop migrated to other places.That is the way Ninny ended her story to Evelyne without revealing to her what really caused the death of Frank. Franks death came accidentallly because he was killed by Sipsey with a cast iron skillet in an effort to prevent him from kidnapping Buddy Jr.The body was then taken by Big George and he berbecued it while the body was burried by his mother in the garden of Mrs.Threadgoode.

Ninny stayed in the nursing home temporary because her house had been condemned and torn away.When Ninny became aware of what had happenegd to her she decided to welcome her and give her a room in her own house since they had already became good friends. Ninny accepted accepted to stay with Evelyne.On their way from Ninnys former home, they passed through the grave of Ruth which was decorated with flowers and on top of it was a card bearing the writings “The Bee Charmer” the nickname she was given by Idigie. After the death of Mrs Threadgroode, Evelyne got a letter from a neighbour of Mrs. Threadgoode inviting her for a visit (Fanny 40). She went to visit her grave carrying pink flowers.She found a note on Ruths grave fron Idgie which had not taken long after visiting the grave of Mrs. Threadgoode. Finally Idgie is found to be stillliving selling honey on a satnd which is near a road.

There are many themes in this film. For example the theme of food is highly elaborated. In the cafe where Sipsey and her son cooked they prepared barbecue which became popular to many people. Rth and Idgie sold food for the blacks through the back doors at a reduced rate.When Frank died, his body is said to have been barbecued by Big George and served to the people. Food is a very important aspect such that human beings are also eaten.The film portrays lesbianism in the sense that when Buddy the brother to Idgie died, she was encouraged by her family to befriend her (Fanny 45). This is a clear indication that the society encourages lesbianism.Women are mistreated by men according to this novel.When we look at Evelyne,she was unhappy with her marriage because her husband had ignored her.The same case applies to Ruth who was abused by Frank her husband.Another theme in the film is death. So many people have died in the film. To begin with, Buddy the boyfriend to Ruth was hit by a train and he died. Frank was bitten by Sipsey with a cast iron skillet in an attempt to prevent him from kidnapping Buddy Jr. which caused his death. Ruth died as a result of cancer while Mrs. Threadgoode is also said to have died and burried in the same place with Ruth. The death of all these characters makes death a major theme in this film.

The other theme and among the most important is the theme of friendship. According to the film, we have a series of friendships.To start with Mrs. Threadgoodes became a very good friend of Evelyne after they came in to contact with each other for a period of time.Through the story which Threadgoode gave to Evelyne, she was encouraged by the character of Idgie thus influencing her positively in her ways of living .Buddy and Ruth were also friends. According to the film, Ruth was Buddy’s girl friend but the relationship ended when he died as a result of an accident.Buddy was also a friend to his sister Idgie.When Buddy passed away, her sister was so much affected an indication that the two people were very good friends with each other.Ruth befriended Frank who married her but later started abusing her. Idgie was offended by the marriage because she lost her friend Ruth to Frank.She was so much attached to Ruth because even after Ruth married Frank, she took a long time to forget her. All the above are friendships portrayed in the film. In my paper i will discuss the relationship between Ruth and Idgie (Fanny 56).

According to this book friendship is defined as a relationship which is different fromothers.Friends volunatariry come together.Frindships are different fromother relationships like marriage relationships which are based on institutions and established laws. Friends are not governed by laws and there is no standard way through which friends should interact.Friendships have some qualities like emtional closeness.Some people become friends so that they can be emotionally close.Emotional love comes as a result of spending time together, talking and going through experiences together.Issues of gender and sex however have impacts on the way people express their emotions towards their friends.Some people get close to their friends through dialogue.As for women,the best way to maintain social closeness is through listening and talking.Through talking with one another people can understand lives of other people.Through dialogue friends can become emotionally close. Ruth and Idgie must have talked together during the time they stayed together.Another way through which people can become emotionally close is through doing things (Wood 253). When people do things together and they perform duties for one another, they become close to each other.Looking at the relationship between Ruth and Idgie they did their things together.They opened a cafe where they helped one another. The two people participated in all the activities in the cafe.Through sharing of the duties, these people became close to each other.Another quality is acceptance.Each and every person wants to be accepted by his/her friends.We all have our strong and weak points and we expect our friends to appreciate us the way we are. People try their level best to ensure that they impress people who are knew to them. Ruth was wrong when she agreed to marry Frank and leave behind her friend Idgie who loved her very much.However we can say that both of the two characters accepted and appreciated each other based on the way they conducted themselves. Idgie even offered to take good care of Ruth and her child because she had accepted her as a friend.

Friends should trust each other.We should trust our friends that we can relie on them.We should also trust their words in the sense that they will do what they say.Trust also means being sure that the friends that we have cares for our welfare.Idgie was a trustful friend of Ruth because she was very much concerned with her welfare.When she found that Frank was abusing Ruth through beating her, she took her and offered to care of her and the pregnancy until she gave birth.This shows how much she cared about her.In addition, she threatened Frank in the public because of abusing her friend which is a risk to her because she was later suspected to be responsible for his death and was jailed (Wood 258). Friends should support each other both in words and financially.Support includes telling your friends that you love them.Another way of suporting our friends is through being available and helping them in times of difficulties.Its clear from the film that Idgie was always there for Ruth and she sacrificed her time and money in helping her and the baby.Its true to ssay that the relationship between these people was based on good characteristics of a friendship.Even after the death of Ruth we can see Idgie visiting her grave an indication that she was a very influential person in her life.

Sometimes friendships come to an end because of several reasons.Friendships can come to an end when people disagree on some issues or when as a result of separation.Friendship can seize if people who are friends stop coming into contact with each other the way they used to do.Education and employment are some of the factors which can make people stop being friends when they move far away from each other.Many friendships however do not end umbruptly. They fade slowly by slowly until the friendship comes to an end (Wood 260). When friendship comes to an end, people will change their mode of communication. People who used to spend alot of time with others do not see the need of spending time with them.Words like I do not have time for you may be heard from people who used to be very good friends.Ruth accepted to leave Idgie who had been her friend because she had seen another friend Frank. This is how their relationship came to an end even though they later agreed on each other and started staying together.

In most cases friends do not always lead a smooth life. They are also subjected to pressures from internal and also from external just like other relationships of human beings.Internal tensions arise from an individual and the interactions he/she is involved in.Pressure can arise in a friendship if the parties have different needs.If what i need in not what my friend needs then we are likely to differ (Wood 265).Communication also affects friendships especially in a case where th parties come from different cultural backgrounds and do not understand each other.For instance some societies no not circumcize their males while most of the societies do.This differences can be a problem in a friendship.Sexual attraction can also pause a problem in the case where friends have decided not to have sexual intercourse but one of them is not abiding to what they said.

Friendships are also affected by external pressures.Human beings change from time to throughout their life.The same thing applies to friends.Whenever one moves from one place like schools,colleges, to another they make new friends.Since people make friends with people they meet frequently, they are likely to forget old friends.Geographic distance also affects friendship.When people migrate from one place to another they will make new friends there.However technology has made it easy for people far away from each other to continue with their communication through emailing and face book thus maintaining their friendship. Friendship is a very important aspect of life as portrayed in the film because through friends we can achieve what we may not achieve alone (Wood 268).

Work Cited

Flagg, Fanny. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe Audio Download. London: Little, Brown Book Group Limited, 2007.

Wood, Julia. Interpersonal communication: everyday encounters. 6th edition. Wadsworth: Boston, 2010.