Junie

“‘I’m not perfect like Minnie. I ain’t ever going to be as perfect as Minnie.’ Junie wipes away the tears and sweat dripping down her face. ‘I’m sorry that the good sister is the one who’s dead and gone and you’re stuck with me. Maybe if you’re lucky, Violet will get married and I’ll be gone for good by the end of the week.’”

Junie’s frustration with being compared to Minnie conveys the complexities of her and Minnie’s sisterhood and highlights the importance of her sister and family to her identity and sense of well-being. Junie loved Minnie, but she feels incapable of measuring up to Minnie’s goodness, even after Minnie’s death. Further, her family’s sorrow over Minnie’s passing augments Junie’s guilt. She still blames herself for her sister’s death and feels incapable of atoning for it. The way that she snaps at her family in this scene illustrates the depth of her internal distress, while also revealing Junie’s fiery personality.

“She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t take it from Minnie’s grave. She’d listened to enough of Muh’s stories to know you couldn’t touch a grave. Even if Muh was just spinning tales, Junie wasn’t no thief. But what if the necklace is the only way?”

Junie’s internal monologue captures her confusion and desperation. On the one hand, she knows that it is fundamentally wrong to dig into Minnie’s grave to steal her necklace, and she has no interest in defiling her sister’s grave or dishonoring her memory. On the other hand, Junie knows that retrieving the necklace might be “the only way” for her to prevent Violet McQueen’s marriage and preserve her life at Bellereine with her family. She vacillates between competing emotions in this passage because she’s afraid of what her actions might say about her character.

“Junie’s skin crawls. She didn’t expect Mr. McQueen to behave so poorly in front of guests. Violet has balled a fist behind her back, her fingers digging into the skin. But Mr. Taylor is unmoved. He smiles back at Mrs. McQueen, his teeth straight and twinkling in the candlelight.”

Junie’s keen observations of Violet, William McQueen, and Beau Taylor provide insight into each character, as well as her own. Junie has a visceral response to this scene—her “skin crawls.” She notices Violet’s discomfort, and she observes Beau’s seeming disinterest in the others’ feelings. The image of him smiling with white teeth raises images of bared fangs and affects an ominous mood. Beau is an antagonist who will threaten others’ safety for his own gain while presenting a charming facade. Junie doesn’t yet know how these interpersonal dynamics will play out, but her attunement to them forebodes coming conflict.

“‘We all have the gift we ain’t nothing without. And you, Delilah June, you ain’t nothing without your words.’ They’ve barely just met. How could he recognize something her family doesn’t even understand?”

Caleb’s remarks instigate Junie’s curiosity in him. She is initially unsure of him—afraid to trust him because she doesn’t know him and knows that they’ll inevitably have to part ways. At the same time, Caleb sees things about her that even her own family “doesn’t understand.” He is introduced as an insightful character who values Junie for who she is in a passage that foreshadows how their relationship will develop.

“No decision has been made about Violet’s future or Junie’s along with it. Is this all it takes to charm Violet? A handsome face, genteel manners, and a pile of money? Junie images Mr. Taylor in the evenings after the parlor chatter is done, stripping down to his secret snake skin and a sharp tail, the monster concealed under immaculate European suits.”

The visual imagery of Junie’s descriptions of Beau reiterates his antagonistic qualities and evokes an ominous, threatening mood. While Beau is “handsome” and “genteel” on the surface, Junie understands that he is really a “monster” at heart. She compares him to a snake—a metaphor that conveys his wickedness and foreshadows the violence he’ll subject all the characters to in the coming chapters.

“Junie’s hands shake violently. She shoves the papers back into the box, and tosses it from her like a hot coal. Junie leans back, cupping her face in her worn hands. Minnie was free. She had been free when she died. Her sister was going to leave her all along.”

Junie’s response to discovering the contents of Minnie’s box marks an important turning point in her pursuit of autonomy and self-emancipation. Since Minnie’s ghost started appearing to Junie, Junie has tried to listen to and accept her sister’s advice. However, she feels incapable of trusting Minnie for help when she learns about Minnie’s secret past. This moment alters how Junie understands her and Minnie’s relationship and therefore her own chances of freedom in the future. Further, the box contains a wealth of truths that Junie isn’t sure she’s ready to confront.

“I just think you deserve more than a pretty view, Delilah June. You deserve to take all the beauty of this world and hold it in your hands. You deserve to bite it like a peach and let the juice drip ’til your fingers get sticky.”

Junie and Caleb’s experience climbing Old Mother grants them the illusion of freedom. While Junie cherishes this “pretty view” from the top of Old Mother, Caleb asserts that climbing a tree isn’t true liberation. He also identifies Junie’s right to a life of her own. The image of her biting a peach and feeling its juice drip down her hands is rife with sensory detail and metaphorically suggests that Junie deserves an all-encompassing freedom that she can touch and hold.

“She was the reason her sister got sick, the reason why she died. She was the one who couldn’t speak up at the funeral when everybody in the family said a kind word about her sister; the one who’d left early, running into the frigid morning. She was the one who’d ripped the necklace out of Minnie’s grave, who’d stolen it to stop Violet’s marriage.”

The third-person narrator uses anaphora to affect an urgent, desperate narrative tone. Each sentence of this passage begins with the phrase “She was the reason” or “She was the one.” The repetition of these phrases creates an insistent tone that mirrors Junie’s emotional experience—she blames herself for Minnie’s death and refuses to forgive herself for what happened. The passage conveys the intensity of Junie’s lingering guilt.

“Caleb, lost. She couldn’t just let him go, she had to hurt him, too. Her dream this morning feels foolish in the hard light of afternoon. She is a ruiner, a person only capable of breaking things.”

Junie’s complex relationship with Caleb contributes to the novel’s nuanced presentations of Love Within Enslaved Communities. Junie does care for Caleb, but she feels compelled to push him away and “to hurt him” because she fears that she doesn’t deserve the love they share. She is still making sense of what their relationship means, particularly because it feels like a reflection of her character.

“She is sick of the pounding in her head, sick of the persistent memories of a dead sister she can’t seem to shake, sick of sympathy and pity from people who can’t understand her. […] She hates herself for giving in to this simple hug, for breaking at the feeling of an embrace from someone she resents for upsetting her in the first place.”

This passage of internal monologue conveys Junie’s intensifying emotional state. In the early chapters of the novel, Junie doesn’t question her relationship with Violet. However, when she gives in to her hug in this scene, she realizes how much she resents Violet. Instead of directing her anger at Violet, however, Junie directs it at herself. At this juncture in the novel, she has yet to learn how to own her anger toward Violet or to stand up to her, highlighting the progress she still needs to make on her coming-of-age journey.

“I tried my best, Junie, to finish Momma’s tasks, but I…I didn’t make it. That’s why you got to do it. Muh and the old folks ain’t gonna leave, but you have to. You have to get yourself free.”

Minnie’s determination for Junie to secure her freedom is an essential facet of Junie’s pursuit of autonomy and self-emancipation. Junie does take steps to exercise her agency of her own volition, but Minnie acts as her guide throughout the way. Her sisterhood, love, and wisdom facilitate Junie’s journey.

“How is it fair that Violet can talk to Mr. Taylor, but she’s cut off from Caleb forever? How could Minnie choose to chase freedom and leave her behind? Why does everyone else get to pick their destinies, while Junie is simply dragged behind?”

Junie’s questioning tone in this passage affects a frustrated narrative mood. She doesn’t normally resent Violet, but she becomes increasingly upset when she realizes that Violet has basic rights that she doesn’t have. Whereas Violet can communicate openly with Beau without fear, Junie has no agency over her relationship or future with Caleb. Although she is frustrated in this scene, her internal questioning is a sign that she’s becoming more aware of her unjust circumstances.

“It ain’t the same thing for folks like us, Junie. We’re like little dolls or something to her, just something to amuse her when she’s bored.”

An important facet of Junie’s coming of age is her gradual acceptance of the inequalities that define her world. Junie hasn’t wanted to see Violet as an enemy. However, Caleb helps her understand that because their world doesn’t regard Junie and Violet as equals, Violet will never be able to value Junie the way Junie wants.

“It’s a gift to live. Something Muh says each year at Christmas when they unwrap presents, each somehow more disappointing than the last in Junie’s adolescent eyes. The words made her feel like a fly, swatted away for expecting more. And yet, standing in a place far from home, thumbing the silky stitching of a gown she’d always longed to wear, she begins to see the buried truth in Muh’s refrain.”

Junie’s experience at the Yule Ball offers her a fleeting encounter with joy. Surrounded by the celebratory mood at the ball and wearing Violet’s yellow gown, Junie finally understands Muh’s statement and is able to derive some gratitude for the life she does have. The moment captures the possibilities of finding and feeling love within enslaved communities. Junie has yet to free herself, but in this moment, she is experiencing goodness despite her otherwise harrowing circumstances.

“He doesn’t want to lose her. How many times has she herself pushed the people she loves away out of the same fear? How could she make him see that maybe the only thing worse than losing is never having at all?”

Junie’s relationship with Caleb challenges how she defines love and understands herself. In this vulnerable scene of dialogue between them, Caleb admits that he is afraid of losing Junie. His vulnerability helps Junie to relate to Caleb, causing her to realize that she’s also been afraid of loving because in her experience, love and loss are inextricable. The questions she asks herself in this scene convey her desire to learn and grow.

“Questions start to fill Junie’s mind. They tingle on her lips before she bites them back. She has questioned Minnie so many times and wasted so many moments fighting her. Besides, Junie doesn’t care. She wants to hurt them. She wants them to suffer for once.”

Junie’s interaction with Minnie’s ghost in this scene captures the power of sisterhood and ancestral guidance. Throughout the novel, Junie has often doubted or questioned Minnie’s advice. By this climactic juncture, Junie is ready to heed Minnie’s directives and warnings, illustrated by the depth of the anger expressed in the final sentences. She is thus learning from Minnie. At the same time, the passage captures how Junie’s outlook is changing—instead of empathizing with her enslavers, she is seeking justice.

“‘You remember what I said before, Caleb, about the margins?’ she says, grabbing his hands. ‘I was dead wrong. There ain’t no life here—no life in a place where they can take everything from us as soon as they feel like it. We got to go.’”

Junie’s insistent tone in this scene of dialogue conveys her determination to set herself free and realize the life she wants for herself. She is tired of accepting a life “in the margins.” Instead, she tells Caleb that if they want a life and relationship that are fully their own, they must seize their autonomy once and for all.

“‘No, Minnie,’ Junie says, her voice growing in strength. ‘It breaks me inside that you were hurting so bad that this was the only way you saw. But I can’t keep listening to everybody around me about what’s right for me. This is my life, Minnie. It ain’t yours to try and live again.’”

Junie employs a heartfelt, empathetic tone in this intimate scene with her sister. Minnie has just opened up about her death by suicide and explained her reasons for making this choice. Instead of getting angry, Junie expresses her regret for having failed to recognize Minnie’s heart. The moment marks a turning point in their sisterhood and gives Junie relief from her guilt. At the same time, Junie’s latter lines reiterate her desire for autonomy. She loves and wants to help Minnie, but she’s also learned that she is the only one who can live her life.

“‘You didn’t come with me when I asked you to run. You wouldn’t even try,’ she says, eyes still locked on the ground. ‘What am I supposed to think of a boy who won’t take a chance? How am I supposed to be with somebody who’s too scared to be by my side?’”

Junie uses a direct and blunt tone when she confronts Caleb for his cowardice. Her refusal to excuse how Caleb has disappointed her illustrates Junie’s self-possession and how far she has come on her journey toward maturity. She is learning to claim her voice and express her feelings—even if it means hurting the people she loves.

“When she strips back the books and the giggling chats, what has her relationship with Violet been? It was cleaning bed linens, folding dresses, and scrubbing dirty chamber pots. Is that what Violet wants for her oldest friend? Does Violet believe she is offering her something good, something desirable?”

Junie’s internal monologue conveys her altered outlook on her and Violet’s relationship. She is finally coming to the understanding that she and Violet have never been and can never truly be friends. This revelation is so poignant for Junie because she’s finally realizing that true friendship and love are defined by equality and reciprocity.

“When I watched ’em take Bess away, all I could think about was the look on my mother’s face back on the island. She was cold as stone, like they’d taken away her reason to breathe. I saw that in Bess’s and Marilla’s faces today, too. Hell, I saw it in Violet and Miss Taylor. And I ain’t gonna let ’em take away mine.”

Caleb’s reflections on Bess’s departure from Bellereine convey how his character has changed. At the novel’s start, Caleb was more willing to accept his fate as an enslaved person. After months of watching how enslavement has stolen his loved ones’ happiness and freedom, Caleb decides that it is time to seize control of his fate. This passage catalyzes his and Junie’s plans to escape.

“Nothing about this life is fair, Baby. There ain’t hardly nothing we got control over. But one thing they can’t take from you is your words.”

Granddaddy’s words make Junie feel loved and seen. Although she is terrified that she’ll lose her future with Caleb and her chances at freedom, Granddaddy reminds her that some things can’t be taken from her. He reminds her of who she is emotionally and spiritually.

“Loose coils dangle from underneath his cap toward his umber-toned eyes, freckled nose, and stubbled cheeks; all features she’s memorized and fantasized about since last summer. His face could grow to be as familiar to her as Muh’s and Granddaddy’s. He could become her home.”

The way that Junie thinks about Caleb just before their flight from Bellereine conveys her depth of investment in him. She doesn’t simply regard Caleb as a passing dalliance. Rather, she can imagine him “becoming her home” in the same way that her grandparents and other relatives have been her home. Love, the novel therefore suggests, offers individuals belonging and safety.