Significance of Glass pumpkins

Over the course of the novel, the pumpkins on the Bonner farm slowly start to turn into glass, which (much like the coffin) represents the life-draining force of the gossiping generated by the Bonner sisters. The glass pieces of the pumpkins float into the sky at the same time the stained-glass coffin shatters, an indication of the characters' defeat of the cycle of gossip.