How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Title.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"He says you are obscene. And when Comstock says something, the entire country listens. You are doing grievous injury to the names of Wilcox and Baxter, Emily. I will seek help for you if you refuse to seek it yourself."
"Meaning what, Teddy?"
"My meaning is perfectly clear."
"No, it damn well isn't! Have some guts for once in your life! Say what you mean!"
"You leave me no choice, Emily. If you do not come home—on my conditions—I will sign you over to a doctor's care." (25.malediction.16-20)
As Mattie overhears the conversation between Miss Wilcox and her husband Theodore, the importance of name and reputation, as well as the power held by men, becomes clear. Teddy is far more concerned for his reputation than he is with his wife's desires. Plus we see that social pressures exist not just in small communities but on larger national scales as well.
Quote #8
Jim Loomis had been playing tricks on tourist kids who wanted to go boating on Fourth Lake, telling them to go inside the Eagle Bay Hotel and ask the manager for Warneck Brown, he'd take them. And they actually did it and how dumb could city kids be when everyone knew Warneck Brown was chewing tobacco, not a person. (27.hispidulous.13)
One of the easiest ways to marginalize someone at a different social level is to scorn what they know, don't know, and value. It's easy to pretend that people who are different from one another are ignorant and dumb, and both rural and urban communities are guilty of committing this crime. The urbanites try to instruct Mattie in her own region, and in retaliation, characters like Jim Loomis and Weaver Smith try to place the hotel visitors in uncomfortable situations. The us-versus-them mentality persists across social boundaries.
Quote #9
Poor Tommy. His brothers and sisters hadn't seemed to know what was happening, but he did. I hoped Mrs. Loomis would never find out. Or Royal or his brothers. It would hurt them terribly. Beth hadn't seen anything and surely Tommy was much too ashamed to tell. It would stay a secret. No one else would ever know. (27.hispidulous.43)
C'mon, Mattie, even you don't believe this. There've already been plenty of events in the novel where secrets have been revealed—just because Mattie's shocked by this one, doesn't mean it has been churning around the gossip mill for a while now (which it totally has).