Out of the Easy

Out of the Easy, as the title suggests, is primarily focused on Josie’s quest to leave New Orleans and create a new life for herself. After meeting Charlotte in the bookshop, she sets her sights on Smith College as the pinnacle of everything she wants: an education, respectability, and a new place to live. Josie struggles, though, with the thought that she cannot escape where—or who—she comes from. She was named after a madam who died on Valentine’s Day, the same day Josie was born. Josie hates that her mother named her so and refuses to let a “reincarnation” of sorts be inevitable. She will not be a prostitute or a madam, and thinks that whoever her dad is, he must be a respectable person. She says, “They [don’t] need to feel sorry for me. I [am] nothing like Mother. After all, Mother [is] only half of the equation” (8). She thinks that if her dad is from a reputable background, then she’s not completely disreputable. If this is the case, she is capable of a more respectable life. Josie relies on her daydreams over her father’s identity to give herself hope for her future. After she meets Forrest Hearne, she adds him to her list of “fantasy fathers” (26).