Quote 1
"I know it was rosebay," Mother Barker said.
"Rosebay!?" said the astonished Abby. "Why, that'll kill you!"
"How could you tell it was rosebay?" someone asked.
"By the way it smelled," said Mother Barker.
"Oleander does have a peculiar smell all right," one of the women agreed.
"Then I saw the petals," Mother Barker revealed. "The children kept arguing over who had the most blossoms floating in their teacups."
[…]
"She might really harm somebody someday," the snuff dipper said.
"She bears close watching," Mother Barker said quietly to the concerned woman. (19.2-11)
Trembling Sally is a problem in town. Sometimes she tries to kill Abby, sometimes she tries to kill the Lightsey kids, but pretty much all the time, she's up to no good. And who mulls over how to handle her? Why the women, of course. Here they are talking through Sally's behavior, trying to figure out just how to handle her.
Quote 2
"It is not the physical wound I worry about," said Mother Barker.
[…]
"No, it's not the physical hurt that bothers me. I look in her eyes, and I see blood on the flower of her spirit," said Mother Barker. (9.44-48)
Brother Jacobs's attack on Abyssinia doesn't just hurt her physically, it wounds "her spirit." While her body will heal with medicine and time, the invisible damage is much more worrisome to Mother Barker.
Quote 3
Mother Barker examined Miss Sally carefully. She said a blackjack leaf went through Miss Sally when the big wind peeled the planks, one by one, off Miss Sally's old frame house and tossed them to the storm like brown sticks. She said the tornado took the handle off the iron tub and left the cow eyeless and gave Miss Sally the trembles.
"Not a thing more I can do," she said, shaking her head. (7.46-47)
And just like that, Miss Sally is gone, replaced by Trembling Sally. When the tornado destroys her home, something snaps inside Miss Sally and she never manages to heal, instead spending the rest of her days in madness.
Quote 4
"Lord we know you know your business. We know we are but a speck of dust in the corner of your eye. But Heavenly Father, grant me permission to speak to you this morning, Sir. Now, Lord, you made the mountains. You made the forest and the streams."
[…]
Merciful Father, you even made the child your faithful handmaiden Patience is carrying.
And Lord, you made the tornado, too. You made everything, including your humble servants.
We understand you already predicted out comings and our goings. The hour and the minute of our birth. And Lord, if you wag your head on us you know the very second of our death. Father, if you wag your head on this unborn child, how can we watch it experience your wonderful light?" (1.9-13)
Mother Barker turns to God as the twister approaches the cotton field where she is working with, amongst other people, the very pregnant Patience. Helpless in the face of this intensely powerful weather phenomenon, Mother Barker places her trust in God.
Quote 5
Mother Barker was quiet for a minute. Then she said, "My mama and her mama before her knew certain things." (23.46)
Here, Mother Barker is referring to knowledge about healing—apparently Mother Barker didn't just up and teach herself all she knows one day, but instead it was passed down to her from her mother, who learned from her mother, in turn. And now Mother Barker wants to pass this knowledge on down to Abby, showing that sometimes family is about blood relation, but sometimes it's about being kindred spirits. In both cases, family is a source of information.
Quote 6
"I shall go where we all must go when my time here is over."
"But how can you speak of it?" Abby wondered aloud already feeling a sense of loss.
"I already talked it over with Barker. He's in agreement. The house will be yours."
Mother Barker registered the look of hurt and bewilderment in the young woman's eyes.
"You're the only child we have, Abby. Even if Patience did give you birth and Strong is your daddy." (25.18-22)
When Mother Barker dies, she and the foreman have agreed to leave their home to Abyssinia. They see her as their child, so they're passing their home onto her in order to set her up for her future as a healer. Aw.
Quote 7
"You're the only child we have, Abby. Even if Patience did give you birth and Strong is your daddy." (24.22)
Mother Barker says this to Abby after she tells her that she and the foreman will be leaving their house to her when they die. The love she feels for Abby is deep and familial, and she wants to set Abby up for a good future.
Quote 8
"My child, there is no greater joy on earth than the joy of healing." (24.27)
As Abby completes her education from Mother Barker, Mama B tells this to her star pupil. And what is healing if not an act of love?
Quote 9
"Barker," she said so softly Abby had to strain her ears to hear, "you're the only husband I ever knew." (25.18)
Remember how Mother Barker says, "every man you marry is not your husband" (20.19)? Well, the foreman was her husband, through and through. That's true love, Shmoopers.
Quote 10
"Abby, I'm glad you finished high school and for yourself a nice education."
"It wasn't always nice, Mother Barker." Abby told the story of her humiliation at the Christmas program. (23.30-31)
Okay, so being humiliated in high school is totally terrible and awful. But we're thinking Abby's missing Mother Barker's point here—Abby received a formal education, all the way through high school. We're willing to bet Mother Barker wasn't afforded the same given her age and when she grew up.
Quote 11
"These here are mysteries they don't know about in the schools. There's power in you. Why, you could hit a straight lick with a crooked stick if you wanted to. And if you wished it, folks wouldn't want to meet you walking nor riding."
The old woman folded her hands in her lap and set her rocking chair in motion. She nodded her head as she rocked, stressing her agreement with the words she had just spoken.
"Why don't you just tell me the sweet part, where you do good for people?" Abby implored.
"The good part? The sweet part?" Mother Barker thought for a minute. "I got to give you the bitter and the sweet. I can't give you the light without showing you the dark." (23.68-71)
As Mother Barker prepares Abby to learn about folk remedies, midwifery, and more, she refuses to only show her the good parts—a key part of truly learning is understanding the bad along with the good. And importantly, school simply can't teach you everything.