The pride with which the Logans work to keep their land demonstrates the value they place on independence. The white landowners—the Grangers, the Montiers, and the Harrisons—all work to maintain the white power structure, using various strategies to achieve this purpose. Another prominent family in the white community, the Wallaces, own the community store and cooperate with the landowners to keep the current social structure intact. In this environment, the Logans encounter many challenges, both subtle and overt, to their independence and self-esteem.

Cassie Logan, the nine-year-old narrator, embodies the spirit of independence, the trademark of the Logan family and one of the primary thematic emphases of the novel. Although not truly rebellious, Cassie questions and challenges practices that many of the other characters accept at face value.

When she travels with her grandmother to the town of Strawberry to sell milk...