How we cite our quotes: (Section.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"I didn't have fun," Jason said. "You hurt me. You put smoke in my eyes. I'm going to tell." (4.52)
That brat Jason! The five year old blames Nancy for the impersonal smoke of the fire and simply assumes that it's his place to accuse her, to tell on her. His attitude mirrors the typical attitude of the white people in Jefferson, such as Mr. Stovall, who don't bother to help the downtrodden Nancy.
Quote #8
"Caddy made us come down here," Jason said. "I didn't want to." (5.3)
Now Jason turns his bratty nature on Caddy. He blames her for pressing for the kids to go to Nancy's house, when he, to some extent, wanted to go to prove he wasn't afraid. Jason, of course, is just a five-year-old, but the accusations flying around in this story give both the sense that no one is immune from danger and that in Jefferson, the minor problems of white individuals outstrip the more serious problems of black ones.
Quote #9
"I don't know," Nancy said. "I can't do nothing. Just put it off. And that don't do no good. I reckon it belong to me. I reckon what I going to get ain't no more than mine." (5.17)
This is some sad stuff. Nancy feels so fated to die that she even says that the forthcoming death she imagines belongs to her. In other words, she sees it as tied up with who she is—her very nature. She blames being black for her plight.