Kicking Against the Pricks

Wording in the King James version of the Biblespeaks of the rods that shepherds have usedto urge animals to go in a desired direction. The phrase may also serve as a metaphor forthe barbs and punishing pricks against which aperson may have to contend while searching forindependence and self-actualization. Cultural andgender socialization provide pricks that goad aperson to stay in her/his place in society. Born during the Great Depression and thenbecoming an Army Brat during World War II toemerge as a young mother and ranch wife duringTexas long drought and fi nally becoming a collegeprofessor, her account covers struggles andtransitions the author experienced through severalhistorical periods. Kizer addresses the crises many have faced orwill encounter including the effects of divorce,rootlessness, economic constraints, alcoholism,mental illness, suicide, death, and others.