The Buick

For Grace, the Buick is the most important physical symbol of her newfound independence in the wake of the fire. In order to get to and from her job, Grace buys the large navy-blue Buick from a used-car dealership. However, the car is much more than a work vehicle; Grace uses it to take her family on picnics and simply to get the taste of freedom from the road. Grace buys the car with money from the sale of Merle’s bracelet, and it is the only purchase she can justify spending her late hateful mother-in-law’s money on. Gene puts water in the Buick’s gas tank because he knows that the car represents agency to Grace, and after this she considers herself “an actual prisoner now, not just a psychological one” (210). Though the Buick is lost, Grace replaces it with a Ford, though...