How does the junkyard symbolize the conditions for Ray’s childhood and the natural landscape of rural South Georgia? my other question is can you discuss the importance of weather in the book but not in terms of plot.

For the children, the junkyard served as a symbol of shame, and it ruined the landscape.

The weather is reflected in the importance of the forest, particularly for Janisse. The forest, like Janisse's family, was struggling to survive.

"'You have to spend a lot of time in longleaf to appreciate it....This is my twelfth year studying it. You have to see it at different times of the day and of the year, different seasons, different weather. Then you understand what a truly extraordinary forest it is.'"