comment on language / style

Because of the poetic nature of this work, much of what is significant is relayed through symbolism. One example is the cotton plant, which is directly mentioned in the poems "November Cotton Flower" and "Cotton Song," and is alluded to in other places, such as "Kabnis." Because many whites owned slaves specifically to harvest cotton on their plantations prior to the end of the Civil War in 1865, cotton has come to represent enslavement to many black people in America. Another symbol used throughout the book is fire, such as the sawdust fire that permeates the whole area like guilt after Karintha loses her baby out near the mill, or the fire that Esther sees in the windows of the McGregors' notions shop.