The passage I chose to analyze is the dialogue on page 46 between Lily and Rosaleen in the hospital room. Two distinct elements come into play during this passage that we have discussed in detail during class: race and politics. Rosaleen’s race was what originally led to the altercation with the three racist men, which is why she is in the hospital in this scene. That, combined with the political scenario of black people earning the right to vote in South Carolina, led to the men blocking the girls’ path, which led to Rosaleen pouring her snuff juice on the men’s boots. However, in my opinion these men really didn’t need any provocation; they were just racist cowards who were upset about the new law and were looking to pick a fight with a black person that they could easily win.
In the actual passage, Rosaleen describes to Lily how the men “came in for an apology” while she was in jail, and beat her a second time, with the policeman looking on apathetically. Again, being a black woman in a southern state during this time in history proved to be the deciding factor when Shoe determined the beatings were justified as a way of getting an apology out of Rosaleen. Upon hearing all of this, Lily is furious at the injustice and wishes the men would “die in hell begging for ice water,” but she also inwardly attacks Rosaleen’s politics and gets mad at her, wondering why she didn’t just apologize and save herself a second beating. It seems to me that even Rosaleen’s closest friend (more or less her adopted daughter) holds her pride against her. In Lily’s words, “All she’d done was guarantee they’d come back,” so with no end to the brutality in sight for either Lily or Rosaleen, they decide to escape the hospital and skip town.
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