Conservative or Progressive

One way to view MR. AND MRS. BO JONES is to consider where it may fall on a scale between Conservative/Reactionary at one end and Liberal/Progressive at the other. First to consider is the era the book was written in, the late 60s. This was certainly a time when standards of morality were loosening and being questioned, with "flower power," psychedelic experimentation, and protests against the Vietnam War. However, though not as strong as in the 1950s, there is still a strong streak of conservatism, such that sex is a taboo subject and teen pregnancy is a huge stigma in a community.

With this cultural context, it is clear that there are both conservative and progressive elements in the novel. By tackling the issue of teen pregnancy head-on in a time when unwed pregnancy was silently negated with quiet adoptions or abortions, the book...