The Courting Candle

The courting candle is a symbol of Cussy’s evolution about getting married, and Pa’s notion to force her to marry a man she does not want to marry. The novel opens with the courting candle in the first chapter, first sentence, demonstrating its significance. Pa uses the candle to show that he has a daughter available for marriage, and indicate the length of time they could chat. In the beginning of the novel, Cussy puts it out herself, desperate not to get married, then another suitor turns her down for her skin color, despite the healthy dowry Pa offers. Charlie Frazier then buys her hand, Pa snuffing out the candle. In Chapter 43 he lights it and puts it out again, but this time Cussy throws it out into the yard. In Chapter 44, Jackson picks it up out of the dirt and proposes...