Junie

“The lines are from ‘Tintern Abbey,’ her favorite poem. She has it memorized, but keeping it in her pocket makes her feel like the limitlessness of the poet’s world is within reach. Is this the sublime she feels now?”

Junie’s love for poetry and literature sustains her throughout the novel. The way that she relates to Wordsworth’s “Tintern Abbey” conveys how art and literature might help an individual survive harrowing circumstances. For Junie, poetry opens her to a “limitless,” “sublime” realm beyond her otherwise entrapping life, foreshadowing her Pursuit of Autonomy and Self-Emancipation throughout the novel.

“‘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.