Where the Red Fern Grows Women and Femininity Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #1

Two young ladies about my age stopped, stared and me, and then giggled. My blood boiled, but I could understand. After all, I had three sisters and they giggled all the time, too.

Oh, this is nice. Billy knows all about women, because he has three sisters. That totally makes him an expert, right?

Quote #2

I saw a relieved look come over mama's face.

Looking at me, she started shaking her head. "I don't know," she said. "I just don't know."

Here comes the worrywart mom to round off the "giggling girls" stereotype. Mama spends a lot of the novel worried about Billy, but not much time actually doing anything about it. Does she feel like she can't? Or does she feel like she shouldn't?

Quote #3

It was too much for Mama and the girls. They left. I heard the tall cane rattling as they ran for the house. (7.126)

This is a little weird, because presumably these women aren't sheltered city girls; they're farm women, who probably slaughter and pluck and skin animals all the time. What's different about this slayage?