Foreign Soil

by

Maxine Beneba Clarke

Jeanie Character Analysis

In “Gaps in the Hickory,” Jeanie is Jackson’s wife, Izzy’s daughter-in-law, and Carter and Lucy’s mother. She loves her son Carter and knows about Carter’s transgender identity. She doesn’t openly reject Carter’s identity but fears for his safety, given Jackson’s increasingly bigoted views and unhinged behavior. She knows it’s only a matter of time before Jackson discovers the truth about Carter, and she worries that he’ll hurt Carter when he does. In the end, Jeanie makes the difficult decision to take Carter to live with Delores in New Orleans, where Izzy told Jeanie Carter would be safe.

Jeanie Quotes in Foreign Soil

The Foreign Soil quotes below are all either spoken by Jeanie or refer to Jeanie. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Place Theme Icon
).
Gaps in the Hickory Quotes

Delores put a hand on Ella’s shoulder, pull her back into the living room. “Quiet, chile. You gon scare him away! That pickney don’t know us from Adam.” But even as Delores say it, she know it ain’t true. Minute that chile an her lay eyes on each other, they gon know they kin. It’s gon feel like they finally home.

Related Characters: Delores (speaker), Carter, Ella, Jeanie
Page Number: 152
Explanation and Analysis:
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Jeanie Quotes in Foreign Soil

The Foreign Soil quotes below are all either spoken by Jeanie or refer to Jeanie. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Place Theme Icon
).
Gaps in the Hickory Quotes

Delores put a hand on Ella’s shoulder, pull her back into the living room. “Quiet, chile. You gon scare him away! That pickney don’t know us from Adam.” But even as Delores say it, she know it ain’t true. Minute that chile an her lay eyes on each other, they gon know they kin. It’s gon feel like they finally home.

Related Characters: Delores (speaker), Carter, Ella, Jeanie
Page Number: 152
Explanation and Analysis: