How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Stanza)
Quote #1
Daddy named me Billie Jo. / He wanted a boy. / Instead, / he got a long-legged girl / with a wide mouth / and cheekbones like bicycle handles. (1.3)
The accident isn't the only thing Billie Jo feels guilty about in her relationship with her dad—her very identity causes her to feel that she let Daddy down by not being a boy. Rather than liking herself for who she is, she sees herself as a disappointment to him.
Quote #2
Daddy says, "Look it, Pol, who's the farmer? / You or me?" / Ma says, / "Who pays the bills?" / "No one right now," Daddy says. (21.8-10)
Even before the accident, blame is clearly a problem in this family. Ma accuses Daddy of stubbornly focusing on wheat rather than diversifying his crops and trying new farming techniques, while Daddy accuses her of not knowing what she's talking about.
Quote #3
"Billie Jo threw the pail," / they said. "An accident." / they said. / Under their words a finger pointed. (38.5)
Wow—way to give a teenager a guilt complex. Overhearing the women cleaning her house and talking about Billie Jo's role in the accident plays a big role in her inability to forgive herself for what happened to Ma.
Quote #4
The price the world would pay for our wheat / was so high / it swelled our wallets / and our heads, / and we bought bigger tractors, / more acres, / until we had mortgages / and rent / and bills / beyond reason, / but we all felt so useful, we didn't notice. (46.1)
Billie Jo's accident isn't the only disaster causing people to feel guilt. According to Miss Freeland, the people of the plains are to blame for the droughts and dust storms because of managing the land irresponsibly. We can infer that having to shoulder the blame only makes the Dust Bowl's conditions a greater burden for its people.
Quote #5
Birdie Jasper claimed / it was all my fault she didn't win, / that the judges were just being nice to a cripple. (69.8)
Oh no she didn't… That's a pretty harsh comment to make about someone who's literally been through the fire and lost everything important to her. We're pretty sure Birdie is just using blame as a disguise for jealousy.
Quote #6
I sat at her piano a long time after I / got back from the church, / imagining / a song for my little brother […] imagining a song for this new baby / who / would not be my father's son. (94.8)
The baby abandoned on the church steps awakens Billie Jo's feelings of guilt at the loss of Franklin, the son her father wanted so badly, as well as the guilt she carries for not being the right gender.
Quote #7
I have given my father so many chances / to understand, to / reach out, to / love me. He once did. / I remember his smile, / his easy talk. / Now there's nothing easy between us. (97.3)
While communication between Daddy and Billie Jo has always been strained, the accident seems to cause him to hold her at arm's length more than usual. The fact that both of them blame themselves for Ma's death adds to their already complex relationship.
Quote #8
"I've done it again," he says. / "Taken food from a child." / I show him my cloth bag with more biscuits. / "At home," he said, "I couldn't feed them / couldn't stand the baby always crying. / And my wife, / always that dark look following me. / Couldn't take no more." (100.2)
Outside of Billie Jo's situation, the Great Depression was a guilt-inducing experience for a lot of people, particularly men who couldn't provide for their families. The man Billie Jo meets on her brief train journey illustrates the pain that comes from this.