The Last Carolina Girl

“Growing up beside one another since babies, we’d gotten used to each other, knowing how to act when it was only the two of us and realizing our different roles with others around.”

Leah’s sense of self versus her societal role influences her initial bond with Jesse, introducing the theme of The Shortcomings of Upward Mobility. The children prioritize conforming to societal class norms rather than nurturing their genuine connection. It is only later, when Jesse loses Leah to the Griffins, that he realizes what he took for granted when she lived in his backyard.

“But if I’d have known that was my last birthday with Daddy, I might’ve asked more. I might’ve pushed for more stories, more memories to remind me of who Mama was and who I might become.”

The desire for “more stories” and “more memories” reflects Leah’s longing to deepen her understanding of her parents and preserve their legacy within herself. Leah’s understanding of The Complexities of Home and Family evolves through multiple tragic events, shaping her belief that family members serve as custodians of memories. This contrasts with Mrs. Griffin’s attempts to erase and rewrite her past life.

“Maybe this Eva Jane could change that for me. Maybe all the Griffin kids could help make me a part of the family, help move me out of the room on the porch and into a home.”

Leah’s living quarters outside the Griffin family home reflect her feelings of separation from them. She sees Eva Jane and the other Griffin children as potential allies who could facilitate her integration into their household and, thus, the family. This longing reflects Leah’s deep-seated yearning for familial connection and highlights her optimism despite her challenging circumstances.

“‘But look! Look at Sally’s dress. I can’t believe—’ and then her sentence trailed off as the girl looked in her direction and waved. Eva Jane’s scowl turned to a smile as she waved back, but once the girl took her seat, she continued, ‘I’d never wear that.’”

Like her mother, Eva Jane maintains an outward facade that does not reflect her often mean-spirited personality. By thrusting Eva Jane among debutantes, Mrs. Griffin encourages her daughter to compete with other young ladies for high social standing. Thus, Eva Jane develops cruel, self-centered tendencies, reflecting The Shortcomings of Upward Mobility.

“‘Sometimes when Mama gets that way, I think of a balloon.’ […] ‘I got one at the fair last spring. It floated on a string, and when I looked up, it made me smile.’”

Even at a young age, Mary Ann teaches herself to dissociate emotionally from her mother. While her coping mechanisms enhance her innocent and endearing qualities, they underscore the strained relationships that Mrs. Griffin cultivates with her children.

“Every day I looked for a way to get Mrs. Griffin to smile at me like the rest of the family did.”

This quote highlights Leah’s determination to find acceptance and validation from her foster family, notably by Mrs. Griffin. It captures an early stage in Leah's character development, preceding her matured faith in her instincts and her identified family values. It illuminates Leah’s initial struggle to integrate into the Griffin family and hints at her evolving perspectives on what constitutes genuine familial connection.

“A fat, little round bird sat in a different bush nearby, letting me get close, but watching me the whole time, just like that mama. Covered in brown, fluffy feathers, I couldn’t be sure, but I thought maybe it was one of those babies who’d left the nest, staying close, wanting to be near his home even if the rest of his family had left already.”

The cardinal family that Leah and Jesse observe serves as a metaphor for Leah’s experiences of losing her family and yearning to return to a familiar home. The description of the bird as “fat, little,” and “round” evokes a sense of innocence and vulnerability, similar to Leah, who is often at the mercy of those who are bigger and more powerful than her.

“For a woman so fixated on the ball, she didn’t seem to care that my mama was a debutante just like her. No matter how many weeds I pulled, none of them gave me clarity to figure out why.”

Leah grows frustrated and confused by Mrs. Griffin’s dismissive treatment, using the metaphor of pulling weeds to suggest her ongoing efforts to make sense of Mrs. Griffin’s motivations. She is confounded by Mrs. Griffin’s outward obsession with balls and debutantes in tandem with her complete disregard for Leah’s mother’s upper-class history.

“I guess Tulla was right about something: the quietest mice are the ones who go free.”

As hostilities increase in her foster home, Leah accepts a harsh truth: Those who remain silent or compliant often avoid negative consequences or scrutiny. This passage comments on the unfair power dynamics that dictate Leah’s existence. No longer interested in integrating into the Griffin family, Leah’s motivations build around self-preservation and quiet escape, helping to initiate her struggle for Autonomy in the Face of Adversity. 

“Thankfully, I’d swept the thick layer of yellow dust off the porch the day before, so I could sit on it. You could still see clumps of the pollen in the bushes on the outside of the railing. It had made such plumes as I swept that it tickled the inside of my nose and caused me to sneeze.”

The description of sweeping the pollen off the porch highlights the seasonal challenges specific to the Southeast, where pollen can be pervasive enough to affect daily activities like sitting outside comfortably. This detail grounds the story in a specific geographical location and time of year, evoking the sensory experience of living in a place where nature’s cycles, like pollen season, shape daily life. It underscores how the setting of North Carolina influences the characters’ interactions with their natural environment.

“He put his hands in his pocket and took a deep breath. Mary Ann and I watched him, neither of us saying a word. Like I used to, Mary Ann gave her father a minute to be quiet. After he stared at the trees and collected himself, he offered us a smile, his mood and manner appearing as usual.”

Although Mr. Griffin never directly harms any of the children in his house, he fails to stop, or even confront, his wife’s harmful actions and neglectful behaviors toward Leah and the other children. His silence and passive demeanor reflect a broader societal complicity and indifference toward the mistreatment of vulnerable individuals. Mr. Griffin’s inability or unwillingness to intervene suggests a pattern whereby those in positions of relative power either ignore or tacitly condone injustices.

“I couldn’t stand to hear anymore of Dr. Foster’s words. I didn’t understand all he said—surgeries of sorts for the sake of making life better. But for who?”

Leah’s rhetorical question “But for who?” highlights her critical perspective on the supposed benefits of forced surgeries. It suggests her concern that such medical interventions, purportedly aimed at improving lives, may instead serve to control and oppress vulnerable people like herself. This moment highlights Leah’s instincts that often caution her to be distrustful; she regularly ignores her internal voice to avoid causing trouble, but her instincts are often correct.

“Mrs. Griffin positioned herself between us and pointed her finger in the direction of her home, and I obeyed. What choice did I have in that moment? I walked away instead of fighting, even after Jesse had reminded me of who I was. I guess he was wrong; apparently I had changed. And despite my promise to Daddy, I’d already started forgetting who I was.”

Mrs. Griffin’s authoritative positioning and gesture symbolize her control over Leah’s actions and decisions, reflecting a power dynamic where Leah feels compelled to comply rather than assert herself. The question “What choice did I have in that moment?” emphasizes Leah’s perceived lack of agency, highlighting her resignation and inner turmoil. Leah feels a complete loss of her autonomy, including living up to the expectations and moral integrity instilled in her by Harley.

“Daddy always said those in the wild had another sense about them, one that most folks had long forgotten, like how the horses seemed restless in the hours before an earthquake trembled our small town. As Mary Ann searched the yard for more yellow flowers, I played the conversation over in my mind, wondering what procedure they had meant. Though I didn’t know much of what Dr. Foster ever talked about, that sixth sense of mine made me restless, as though a quake was coming for me.”

Leah’s deep connection to nature and her intuitive sensitivity contrast sharply with the clinical and oppressive environment imposed by Dr. Foster and Mrs. Griffin. Leah’s father’s belief in animals possessing a “sixth sense” aligns with Leah’s intuitive feelings, suggesting a natural wisdom that traditional education or societal norms do not necessarily recognize or value. The imagery of horses being restless before an earthquake mirrors Leah’s unease and foreboding about Dr. Foster’s procedures.

“The two went back and forth, their voices raising, the tension in the room filling the air like the pressure changing before a hurricane would barrel in off the coast.”

Leah once viewed the Griffin family’s elaborate dinners as idyllic, but over time, they have transformed into a toxic and tense tradition. As Michael Henry matures into a young adult, he confronts his mother with sarcasm and defiance, refusing to comply with her expectations. His rebellion intensifies the tension within the Griffin household, which Leah now sees as the antithesis of her ideal home environment, raising the issue of The Complexities of Home and Family.

“She sat down at the table, crossing her legs at the knee as she’d seen her mother do, the shoes dangling from her toes threatening to fall to the ground at any second.”

Mary Ann seeks ways to identify with her mother, ultimately hungry for Mrs. Griffin’s approval and acceptance. Her imitations of her mother’s wardrobe and mannerisms look comical and awkward to the other children, symbolizing the complexities within Mary Ann’s relationship with Mrs. Griffin.

“I looked into the mirrors. Before me, beside me, and all around me was a girl with my hair and my freckles, but with a body I didn’t recognize, a height that had happened sometime in my sleep.”

Leah experiences a reflective moment of self-realization while trying on dresses with Eva Jane and Mary Ann. With several mirrors angled in front of her, Leah can see herself from multiple perspectives—a metaphor for the multifaceted identity into which she has grown. While recognizing familiar parts of herself, like her hair color and freckles, Leah observes a growth and maturity in her appearance that matches her evolved sense of self and worldview.

“I crawled beneath my quilt, burrowing under as many layers as I could find before I screamed into my pillow, my body crying out with shivers that rattled deep inside me. But my eyes remained dry, free of tears that were too confused to fall.”

In the immediate aftermath of Leah’s forced sterilization surgery, Leah seeks her quilt, a symbol of comfort and connection to Harley and Emma (See: Symbols & Motifs). The physical action of screaming into her pillow suggests intense emotional release and frustration, yet the absence of tears reflects a more profound complexity in Leah’s emotional state as she remains confused about the violations to her body.

“What Daddy had come to know was the dichotomy, the mixing of the beauty and destruction, the awe and devastation that the force of nature could unleash.”

Harley instilled in Leah a reverence for the stark contrasts within the natural world, highlighting nature’s ability to inspire both “awe and devastation.” Similarly, Leah’s experiences and relationships with other characters fluctuate between moments of danger and horror, as well as beauty and endearment.

“If only the anesthesia had dulled the pain of that day for the years to come.”

Leah returns to her retrospective first-person perspective at emotionally pivotal moments throughout the narrative. Here, Leah briefly touches on the lasting, traumatic consequences of Dr. Foster’s forced sterilization surgery, emphasizing the catastrophic loss that exists long after her physical pain.

“‘Forgive?’ She shook free of her husband. She paused for a minute, looking at my bare feet, her eyes staring without a single blink, her head shaking side to side. ‘How can I forgive when I’m still cleaning up after ’em?’ Her eyes met mine as she hissed, ‘Fixin’ their burdens?’”

Mrs. Griffin’s inability to forgive the past reveals the constant resentment and anger with which she lives, invoking The Shortcomings of Upward Mobility. In no uncertain terms, she establishes her misguided beliefs about eugenics and forced sterilization as good for society, attempting to victimize herself as burdened by Leah’s presence. The word “fixin’” indicates that Mrs. Griffin equates Leah to an animal undergoing a spay or neuter surgery.

“I slept alongside the souls of those I’d never known, as the stars sparkled overhead like glitter and the crickets sang their song to the Carolina girl in their midst.”

Leah begins to openly reclaim her Autonomy in the Face of Adversity by refusing to sleep in or near the Griffin house. Instead, she chooses the cemetery, where she can find solace among the natural world, blanketed by the stars that so frequently represent guidance (See: Symbols & Motifs). The cemetery references mortality; Leah’s presence in the graveyard and her appreciation of the souls that once lived deconstruct the belief that biological children are necessary to build a lasting legacy.

“Our last afternoon together in the Barna house we had been kids racing down the oak path. Though only a few months ago, so much more had come to pass since that afternoon, more than we could understand, yet enough for us to feel.”

Leah and Jesse’s reunion captures a bittersweet reflection on the passage of time, growth, and the evolving relationship between the friends, marking an important moment of transition in their lives. The mention of “only a few months ago” juxtaposed with “so much more had come to pass” emphasizes how swiftly their lives have changed and how much they have experienced in a short period. This conveys a sense of growth and maturity as they navigate the new challenges and emotions outlined in the Epilogue.