Saguaro Cactus

Bess has a saguaro cactus growing through her home, and this represents her sexuality. The tie between sexuality and the cactus is drawn when Joni mentions that it is phallic looking. The fact that the cactus grows inside Bess’s home demonstrates how Bess’s sexuality was used against her as a teenager as the press used her sexual history as proof of her depravity. She cannot escape this co-opting of her sexuality even ten years later in her own home.

Bess's Hair

Bess’s hair represents Bess’s blessings and the way she pushes them to the side after Evangeline’s death. Joni and Evangeline are both jealous of Bess’s hair as teens. While a teen, however, Bess is not really capable of seeing her own blessings in relation to those of others. As an adult, she lets her hair go, and Joni...