Essays

Polly

In Amanda Craig’s ‘Hearts and Minds’ Polly Noble is one of the five main characters. She is a stressed human rights lawyer and single mother, who is torn between the independency her profession offers and her motherly duties toward her children Tania and Robert, because of which she is dependent on her au-pair Iryna.

At thirty-eight (p.314) Polly does not like being reminded of her age (p.195, 370). She once describes her appearance as “that of a small woman who has had an unfortunate encounter with a tornado” (p.345). Although she does not hide the fact that she is Jewish, she clearly states that she is not religious (p.222, 415).Polly loves England, even the rain (p.177) and is proud to be British (p.54).
Polly Noble’s story, the novel itself even, begins with this woman being permanently „conscious of guilt“(p.5). While this feeling intensifies at a later point of the story, she is accompanied by it all the time.

Throughout the book, the reader may redefine his picture of Polly. She is introduced as the character that is torn between career and family, but seems to prefer one over the other. The fact that she “feels quite triumphant” (p.56) when not having her children around, making it possible for her to work ten hours straight, might evoke a sense of antipathy when paired with the knowledge of her resenting the “burden of domesticity” (p. 57) and “all the boring chores of being a housewife and mother” (p.7) she has to shoulder.
At one point her self-pity reaches comical levels- she blames other people for not commiserating with her clients, listing the terrible acts of violence and injustice inflicted on them and then goes on to pity herself, for having to search for a new au-pair (p.59). The impression, that she thinks very highly of her morality, having been so much better to her au-pair than most people are (p.56), forces itself upon the reader. Polly’s daughter Tania thinks so too and says: “Your trouble is, you think your farts smell of roses” (p.54).
Furthermore, Polly talking about Iryna’s “terrible Russian clothes” (p.56) and “big show-off BMW’s” (p.53) bullying her, make her appear judgmental.

But these flaws are what make her a humane, believable and round character. The story goes on to tell us, what an amiable and considerate person she is. She changes throughout the novel, or at least the reader’s perception of her does. We learnt that she has “taken in compassion […] with her mother’s milk” (p.12), and this side of her shows itself after the break-in.
While her educational methods had been arguable in the first chapter; depending on threats: “Get dressed, or you’ll be going to school in pyjamas […] put them on, or you’re going to school in your socks” (p.9) and demands “You have to do this stuff […]. You must have them!” (p.10), her true concern and love for her children who are “the most important thing in [her] life” (p.283) becomes obvious later on in the novel. She is very anxious for her children’s safety (p.213), her son admits to loving her very much (p.214) and “She always hopes. She always believes. She always loves” (p.255).

Polly does her job because she wants to help people who are defenseless and poor. She also knows that someone has to do this work (p.55). While she is of the opinion that “money isn’t everything” (p.55), she does worry that without her full-time job “she has no income”, but especially “no future independent of motherhood” (p.92).

Simplified, her heart is with her children and her mind set on her career.
Trying to find the “fine balance” between these two, “it seems that nobody is happy with her performance” (p.93). “Her children will never stop resenting her for working so much” (p.99). Robbie wishes “she’d be more of a mum and less of a superhero” (p.301) and Tania even inquires why she bothered having them if she hated them (p.313). “Her work is perceived as a kind of moral luxury, even by her closest friends” (p.396).
The problem is that “the two halves of her life never meet” (p.97), so that they both demand full attention, without considering, let alone understanding the other.
The conflicting nature of the single, working mother calls for many sacrifices and is the main reason, why Polly feels chronically guilty. It also explains why she is often “nauseous with stress” (p.10) and feels like “she has become a machine” (p.314). The struggle to please both parties leaves her with no time to care for her own wellbeing. She has no leisure-time on her hands, never enjoys reading a newspaper or watching TV (p.96) even at weekends (p.314). She feels that the time she lives in is a complex one; Whereas a “few years ago, people still used to read novels with an intellectual standard, she now reads detective stories in order to relax.) This is also shown when she mentions how fast life has become (shops in her youth were open from 8-5, and now London has become a world metropolis without any fixed opening times at all.: She is also afraid that her children won’t enjoy the same privileges she has been used to and feels the pressure on them as they will be competing with people from all over the world for jobs. Her image of the traditional place for the British middle and upper class is shaken
Another inner-conflict, which is partially linked to the first one, is Polly’s striving for independence while being utterly dependent.
She desperately wants to free herself of the “old-fashioned idea about how [she] should stay at home” (p.94) and watch over the children. Polly strives to be an emancipated woman, and wants to show the world that there is a point to woman’s education, that one doesn’t have to quit one’s job after having a family (p.99). This is also reflected in her love life. She does not want to surrender herself to Bill as she did to Theo (p.13 and believes that she “is no longer dependent on having a man in her life” (p.313). Her lover therefore is not as important in her life as her children and her friends are (p.346), which explains why she breaks up with Bill when she realizes he is not committed enough to be close to her and her children (p.392).
Ironically, to be independent enough to work, she is dependent on her au-pair without whom “she simply couldn’t manage” (p..

Polly also indirectly characterizes herself through her behavior toward other people.
She trusted Iryna, who came to her without references. This trust wavers after she disappears and Polly starts doubting her motives, although she is very reluctant to tell the police about her lost engagement ring. Her curiosity to find out what happened to her au-pair (p.279) and the guilt she feels at having failed Iryna (p.251) can be explained by her undaunted wish to restore her aid’s credibility.
Polly’s relationship with Job is proof of her unbiased, open way of thinking. She is genuinely interested in what he has to say (p.196), he thinks of her as a “very good woman” (p.301) and thus a mutual friendship develops.

Overall Polly Noble’s last name reflects her controversial character: She is not noble in the sense of belonging to the nobility or another upper class- she is no wealthy corporate lawyer, but a noble, charitable human rights lawyer and loving mother, a round character with its flaws and strong suits.

Her compassion for disadvantaged, mostly illegal immigrants makes her a vital character in “Hearts and Minds” which recounts the fates of such migrants. Her actions prove that not all Londoners embody the stereotype of the hypocritical citizen who complains about these immigrants while employing and depending on them on a daily basis.