Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses murder, death by suicide, torture, and anti-Indigenous racism.

“Each home conformed to the one before it, all covered in unpainted clapboard and partitioned off by gray wattle fences made from saplings. Abitha searched for decorations—anything to break up the suffocating sea of gray. She found only drab waxed windowpanes staring back at her as though judging, weighing her soul.”

This first description of the village of Sutton uses the imagery of the houses to underscore the idea that conformity is necessary in this society. The fact that Abitha sees this conformity as “judging” her also gives early insight into her perspective—she already sees herself as an outsider in this society who holds views worthy of judgment.

“Joseph must understand that his sins are condemned by all. It is not always easy, and yes, it can be cruel, but it is the only way. If one parent punishes the child for his poor behavior, only to have the other give him comfort for his years, then the lesson is undermined and the family unity put in jeopardy.”

Reverend Carter’s explanation of why an old man must be made to sit in shackles outside of the church for falling asleep during service demonstrates the extremity and cruelty of Sutton’s society. The Reverend’s metaphor about the church being like a family also speaks to the psychology of control in Sutton: if churchgoers are asked to see themselves as being part of a “family,” then they are immediately part of a system that enacts top-down authority.

“Oh, to be a man just this one day, Abi thought. How I’d put that lout in his place.”

Even at this early stage in the novel, Abitha has a clear-eyed understanding of the power imbalance that exists between genders. Her (joking) desire to “be a man” also speaks to her desire to transgress this balance.