How we cite our quotes: (Section.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"He ain't gone nowhere," Nancy said. "I can feel him. I can feel him now, in this lane. He hearing us talk, every word, hid somewhere, waiting. I ain't seen him, and I ain't going to see him again but once more, with that razor in his mouth. That razor on that string down his back, inside his shirt. And then I ain't going to be even surprised." (1.65)
Scary stuff, right? Nancy's conviction that her death is fated and coming soon does double duty: it conveys that she feels a lack of control over life, which may be taken as a sign of the race-based inequality in Jefferson, and it conveys pure, frightening suspense. Lacking control over your life and fearing someone is coming after you are both terrifying things.
Quote #5
"I'd stand there right over them, and every time he wropped her, I'd cut that arm off. I'd cut his head off and I'd slit her belly and I'd shove—" (1.68)
Nancy insists that if Jesus is with another woman, she would cut off his penis ("arm") whenever he had sex ("wropped") her. Then she'd go after his head and her belly. Her statement amps up the level of fear, because even Nancy—the character readers probably worry most about—threatens to commit murderous violence.
Quote #6
"I know," Nancy said. "He's there, waiting. I know. I done lived with him too long. I know what he is fixing to do fore he know it himself." (2.25)
Now Nancy appears to have something of a psychic sense that Jesus is coming for her. But it's not something we can write off entirely; it makes sense that someone long-married could predict her spouse's behavior. So the sense of fear in the story continues to unnerve us and Nancy both, all while providing suspense that keeps us turning the pages.