How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
When I looked around, I saw Ella standing in the door with her hands on her hips. So big she was filling up that whole door.
"What's all this about shotguns?" she asked.
"We going hunting," I said.
"Going hunting for what this time of day?"
"Just hunting," I said.
"Matthew, I'm talking to you," she said. "Hunting what?"
"I'll tell you when I get back," I said.
"You telling me 'fore you leave from here," she said.
"Go somewhere and sit down, woman," I said. "This men business." (5.3-11)
This little chat that Mat has with his wife shows us that the men in the novel feel like women should be kept on the sidelines and not allowed to ask any questions. Is that just the male characters who feel that way, or does Gaines feel that way, too?
Quote #5
"And you'll do anything to make me take you to jail, is that it?"
"If you take Mathu, you taking me," Beulah said.
"I'm taking Mathu sooner or later," Mapes said. "And I'll make room for you."
"I'll be ready," Beulah said. "Just let me go home and put on a clean dress."
"I'll find a dress you can wear," Mapes said. "And I'll find a bucket and a mop, too."
"I ain't no stranger to buckets and mops," Beulah said. "Hoes, shovels, axes, cane knives, scythe blades, pickets, plows—I can handle a gun, too, if I have too. I been in the pen before." (9.229-34)
We're not sure, but Beulah Jackson might be the only character who could stand toe-to-toe with Mathu. She's tough as nails, no question. Why do you think that Gaines makes her that way?
Quote #6
Fix looked from Gil to the woman sitting on the bed with her head bowed. She had been quiet a long time, but never once raised her head to look at anyone. Fix looked at the little boy in his lap and patted him on the leg.
"You know the little boy I'm holding here?" he asked, looking back at Gil. "Tee Beau. No more papa." He looked at Gil awhile to let those words make an impression; then he nodded toward the woman on the bed. "You know that lady sitting there—Doucette? Huh? No more husband."
"I'm sorry, Papa," Gil said. "I'll do all I can for Tee Beau and Doucette." (12.259-61)
Try and think for a minute about the way Doucette figures into this passage. Is she important? How do the other (male) characters relate to her?