Becky never comes out of her house again. She makes herself so invisible, many people believe she may be dead. Then, one Sunday when "There was no wind. The autumn sun, the bell from Ebenezer Church, listless and heavy. Even the pines were stale, sticky..." (p. 8), Becky's house falls down on her. The house is a symbol of her consciousness, alienated and alone, possibly self-hating, and she dies from its complete collapse.

The strength of the black people is beautiful too. "Carma," for example, "in overalls, and strong as any man, stands behind the old brown mule, diving the wagon home...the sun which has been slanting over her shoulder, shoots primitive rockets into her mangrove-gloomed, yellow flower face" (p. 12). Another example of beauty can be found in Fern's stoic bearing of sadness, her withdrawal into an inner world that cannot be touched by any man, though many want...
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