How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
They were particularly interested in the new baby, Abyssinia. They women of Ponca City considered themselves midwives-in-common at her birth.
She filled their conversations.
"Remember it like it was only yesterday," one of them commented.
"Born in the cotton field."
"Came here marked, too."
"Marked by fire!"
"Baptized with the fire!"
"Foreman built the fire."
"Boiled water for the birthing."
"Patience spread out on her pallet of cotton sacks."
"And here comes our baby."
"An ember jumped out of the blaze and branded the child.
"Marked at birth!"
"A birthmark."
"Placed the new child on a soft sack of cotton."
"Laid her in a cotton manger."
"A black girl in a manger." (3.1-17)
As the women of Ponca City recount Abyssinia's birth, religion just keeps coming up. Interestingly, at first Abby is called "marked," which has some pretty devilish biblical implications. Saying she's "marked by fire" doesn't exactly do much to shift this, either—when people think of the devil, flames leap to mind.
But then the language shifts: We're told Abby's "baptized," which is a practice to prevent damnation (yay), and then she's compared to the baby Jesus when the women call her "a black girl in a manger." Instead of an ominous arrival, then, Abby is sort of like the second coming of Christ for the women of Ponca City. No pressure, kid.
Quote #5
"Mama's making me something."
"What color?"
"Blue. The prettiest blue."
"Child, did you know blue is the color of the will of God? Is she about finished?" (6.92-95)
Abyssinia and Mother Barker are discussing what Abby will be wearing to the church anniversary party. Patience is making Abby a blue dress. Just as Abby is compared to Jesus when she's born (check out the quote right above this one to see this happen), again we see her compared to a gift from God.
Quote #6
Abby sat transfixed, the song going all inside her to the very edges of her nerves and clinging there. The music settled in behind her eyes where it threatened to spill out down her face, the way beautiful music sometimes did.
"When I die, hallelujah, by and by…"
The melody reached the rafters, and Abby's mother joined the dance, stretching out a circle. Every time she tried to sit down, the organ moaned and screamed louder. The song reached out and held her, then let her go, then gathered her up again. (8.13-15)
Shortly after Strong leaves Patience and Abyssinia, the church anniversary service and party take place. In a moment of feeling incredibly lost and ungrounded, this hymn holds both Patience and Abby tight, "transfix[ing]" Abby and "settl[ing]" in her body, and "gather[ing]" up Patience.