Marked by Fire Violence Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #7

Then one day Patience got up off her knees and climbed up in the loft and brought down Strong's double-barreled shotgun. She polished its gray metal with a piece of flannel until it gleamed cold silver. She parked the long gun next to her Bible on a table by her front window. She kept the window shining clean and the curtain pulled back so that all her astonished porch-sitting neighbors could see.

Evidently word reached Brother Jacobs before he could come that way from the penitentiary. The rumor was that he never even stopped in Ponca City but headed for parts unknown on a Southern Pacific train. (15.10-11)

Sometimes just the threat of violence is enough to stave off actual violence. Patience seems to know this, and she makes quite a show of how much violence she could enact on Brother Jacobs should he come around her house ever again.

Quote #8

"But Mother Barker, you're so good. Can't some of those practices cause other folks harm?"

"Well, fact is, I haven't always been good. Old age has a way of mellowing the outrages of youth. When I was young, I used to do all kind of stuff to folks out to do me wrong."

"Mother Barker, I can't imagine…"

"I threw salt after one woman who was after my husband. Woman moved so many times from hours to house 'til she broke down the moving wagon. Salted her good. One ornery man made me so mad I rotted the teeth out of his head." (23.61-64)

Mother Barker knows how to use her folk remedies for good—and for evil. Mwah ha ha ha… Implied in this passage is the fact that while Mother Barker was responding to mean treatment, two wrongs don't make a right, no matter how much Mother Barker chuckles while recounting these incidences to Abby.

Quote #9

It was common knowledge that Willie Johnson beat his wife, Lily Norene. Sometimes he was more vicious than usual, and on those occasions she was left with another missing tooth, another scar, or some permanent disability like the twisted hand. The beatings also left her with more responsibility than she had before. In her five years of marriage to the man, she bore him five children. (27.4)

Oh man… this is some serious spousal abuse. Not only does Willie Johnson beat Lily Norene, he rapes her, too. This is "common knowledge," and yet it's gone on for years at this point. Which leaves us with one question: What should the community be doing with their knowledge?