For the life of me, I still can’t understand why you want to live in the South.
-- Herschel (Chapters 1-5)

Importance: Herschel wastes no time in posing a question that becomes central to the novel's exploration of community: why would Jo want to return to a place that is decidedly more retrograde than the one she has been living in? The tensions between community loyalty and a desire to create a better life run rampant through the novel, from Savannah's attachment to the Black community in West Mills in spite of her alienation from it to Marian's struggle to achieve upward mobility without growing apart from her neighbors.

You been in the big city too long, Ms. Jo. ‘Round here, we care what our neighbors and folk think about us. Not everything they think ‘bout us. But we care when somebody thinks ill of us.
-- Nate (Chapters 1-5)

Importance: Nate's admonishment of Jo is a reminder of...