Exactly how steamy is this story?
PG-13
This short story has some sexual content, none of it direct and none of it actually in the forward motion of the tale—that is, the stuff that happens on stage.
Still, the sexual content plays a foundational role in getting the story off the ground. Jesus wants to chop the "vine" (1.18) off the white man who impregnated his wife. Nancy wants to murder him and any women he's with if he "wropped" her (1.68). Mr. Stovall abuses Nancy rather than pay her for her prostitution (1.12).
The sexual content also contrasts the children's version of reality with the adults'. The adults know what is going on when Jesus refers to a "vine" or when the father tells Nancy to "just let white men alone" (1.63). But the children—or at least Caddy—don't understand. She keeps asking and asking for clarification, which heightens the drama since the answer is not explicitly stated but left to grow in our imaginations.