A Northern Light Minor Characters Quotes

Aunt Josie often functions as the mouthpiece for social values in the novel, so what we hear coming out of her mouth is often what other people around her think. But Aunt Josie latches on to Mattie's conflict: abandon her sisters and Pa for her dream, or stay and fulfill the responsibilities dictated to her by her gender and social norms.

Significantly, the beating takes place off-page, which places the focus of the event on Weaver's reaction and others' reactions. There's very little emotion in the description of the event. Though Mr. Sperry wonders why Weaver can't keep his mouth closed, we know that Weaver would never passively accept racist remarks heaped upon his person. He's too righteous for that, and although he has been physically beaten, his spirit has not.

It's pretty clear where Mattie's values lie: with language. Here we see her place importance on how others judge someone by the way that person communicates, an idea that we'll see again with her siblings and with Weaver. Of much less importance is Lou's physical appearance. Clearly Mattie values a person's mind and words over their physical characteristics… well, most of the time (ahem, Royal Loomis).

Weaver accuses Mattie of giving up her dream because of the promise she made to her mother, and Mattie, torn up about the internal conflict, begins to cry. Take a close look at the conversation here: Minnie is the voice of conventional society, telling Weaver that the truth is less important than how a person feels. But Weaver… Weaver, like usual, is staunch in his conviction to speak honestly about Mattie's situation.

Mattie feels so passionately about telling the truth in writing and literature that she lets her words get away from her as she explains what literature should be like to Miss Wilcox and Lou. It is important that Lou, as the most rebellious of the Gokey girls, is the one who admonishes Mattie for her beliefs about literature.

For all Lou's rebellion, she still operates within the social boundaries of society, not reaching above or below what people expect of her. But here, Lou realizes that Mattie is much more rebellious than she is; in fact, Lou, who habitually breaks social rules, is the one encouraging Mattie to conform.

Sometimes it's only our family members who can get away with telling us harsh truths. Uncle Fifty, who has arrived after a lucrative logging job, is the only one who can tell Pa to his face how he's changed from the man he used to be, how he's let his grief for his wife and son color every aspect of his life. And then there's this idea of haunting that's repeated when Uncle Fifty calls Pa a "ghost." Pa is haunted: by his wife, by his guilt, and by the blame he heaps on himself for the dissolution of his family.