How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Then Banina had begun to sing. Coming home, walking with the strength that was tired now but never left her, she sang them how the day had been for her. She sang so all the hills could hear. As night came creeping, came sweeping over the land, her voice told the hills what they already knew, but in a way that only she could tell it. (4.14)
We know this category is all about man and the natural world, but in this case, it's all about the woman and the natural world. And yes, Banina is the woman. Her relationship to nature comes from her own natural talent—singing. Note, by the way, how everything comes alive around her. All of a sudden, the hills and the night are personified; it's like she calls them into being.
Quote #8
"But even the babies can 'preciate some vegetables. They understand that vegetables is part of the human form." He looked around to make sure everyone was listening. "Piece of the body you pull up by the root. Or piece that you cut away when it get the blight. Or heal it, depending on how bad it is." He nodded to himself. Others nodded back. "Or eat it, it's still body," he said, letting loose a strap and raising the hand for emphasis. (12.85)
This is Mr. Killburn's philosophy about vegetables. Clearly, he respects and honors vegetables in a way M.C. doesn't. Mr. Killburn's closeness to nature has to do with extending the "human form" to those vegetables they eat. It kind of makes sense if you think about it: If vegetables are grown for the purpose of being eaten by humans, then at some point vegetables do become part of the human body.
Quote #9
"And the truth is, we are a body just wiggling and jiggling in and out of the light."
"You mean, the earth is," she said.
"I mean earth and everything on it," Killburn said.
Deeply interested, Lurhetta nodded, saying, "But I don't think about it every day."
"Sure now, that's it, then," Killburn said. "If you could think about it every day, you never could own a piece of it. Wouldn't want to. And if you don't think about it every day, you get to believing you have a right to own it. You become a sore growing on the body." His eyes a vivid, mackerel shade: "A scab on the sore, getting bigger, hurting, causing pain." (12.91-95)
Killburn's philosophy about not owning land is a huge knock against the Higgins' pride at owning Sarah's Mountain. It's hard to disagree with him, too, at least given the way the story develops. After all, places like the lake or the view of the distant hills—all of that is free (more or less), no one owns them, and they provide for everyone. If someone were to own those things and restrict access to them, we're guessing the M.C.'s attitude toward ownership of the land might change a little.