"There's talk about a new county road," Papa yelled to me in the raining, "and they say it's wide enough to cut the corner of the churchyard at the Meeting House."
"Is that where we be going, Papa?"
"That's where."
"Why?"
"We don't let Sebring Hillman desecrate what's ours that's buried there." (8.15-19)
It's not just that Hillman will be desecrating a grave, but that he's going to desecrate "what's ours." Looks like community remains important even after death.
"Shameful. Them two living under the same roof, without benefit of clergy. You know well as I what's going on in that house, right under our very noses."
"Maybe," said Mama, "our noses are where they shouldn't be." (9.5-6)
Just like Papa with his fences, Mama thinks that keeping on your own side of the boundary lines is a major factor in being a good neighbor. Do Mama and Papa generally share the same opinions about community? Are either of them a part of a community that the other is not?
Quote 9
"I'll send the boy for his pig," Papa said, "and we're beholding to both you folks, Brother Tanner."
"We to you, Haven. I got offered five hundred for my yearling oxen. Five hundred dollars, and not even half growed. Thanks to your boy who helped born 'em, and work 'em at the Fair." (11.9-10)
Thank you! No, thank you! No, thank you! These farmers sure are polite, aren't they? Shmoop guesses it's all about successful community building—nobody likes to do favors for someone if they're not going to be gracious about it afterward, right?