Silver Sparrow

Jealousy is the predominant emotion in this section of the book. Almost all the main characters seem to be suffering from its effects. Dana Lynn’s jealousy is pointed towards Chaurisse, as it has been for the entirety of her existence. Dana Lynn is not even allowed to work where she wants to because it might mean contact with Chaurisse. Chaurisse’s ability to obtain with ease what Dana Lynn often works so hard for—admission to the citywide science competition, admission to camp, a job at Six Flags, her father’s love—is the cause of much of this jealousy. As Dana Lynn gets older, she also focuses on the ways in which Chaurisse is physically superior to her, seeing her as more physically attractive than before. This is a particular point of pain since Dana Lynn has always comforted herself with the fact that her mother is prettier than Laverne, and she sees her mother’s qualities as reflective of her own.

Gwen also suffers from her fair share of jealousy. She feels especially hurt by her inability to connect with the person James cares about the most, Miss Bunny. After Miss Bunny’s death, it’s clear how drastic of an influence she had on James’s life. When Gwen sees the photo of Laverne and Miss Bunny in the mall, it brings to life the acute difference between her life and Laverne’s life: Gwen is ever forced to look on through a layer of glass, the intimacy she so desperately desires dangling just out of reach. It’s not just the women who are jealous, however: Raleigh also suffers from jealousy. Throughout the book he has shown a marked endearment for Gwen, but in this section, he decides to finally act on it. Jealous of James, who he feels has pushed this beautiful, hardworking woman into the shadows of life, he tries to offer Gwen what James can’t—legality, normalcy, and a traditional family. She refuses him, however, meaning that for all three, nothing has yet to impede their trains of jealousy, which are launching forth at ever more dangerous speeds.

Other tension that is noteworthy in this section is that between North and South, and between country and city. Ronalda, who has lived in both the North and the South, warns Dana Lynn that she will be treated differently in the North than at home. She frames the South as safer for Black Americans than the North because, supposedly, there are more African Americans in the South, and therefore there is more solidarity. Moving from the South to the North is one of the things Dana Lynn will have to contend with in order to go to her desired college, so the division between the two weighs on her mind. Dana Lynn also must contend with the difference between city and country, although in a more visceral way than North and South, since she already has experienced both by the end of this section. Dana Lynn is used to city life, specifically that of mid-20th-century Atlanta. However, when she visits Alabama, she experiences country life, here pictured as both fascinating and predatory. Neither setting is presented as perfect or preferable.