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Herald Loomis
Seth’s wife, and the co-owner of the boarding house. Although Seth doesn’t like Bynum’s folk magic, Bertha partakes in some of the old man’s rituals. Seth criticizes her for this, pointing out that she is combining Bynum’s spiritualism with Christianity, along with other, simpler superstitions. Despite his criticism, she merely says, “It don’t hurt none. I can’t say if it help...but it don’t hurt none.” By saying this, she reveals her flexibility, her willingness to embrace multiple worldviews. This is the temperament responsible for her easygoing nature and her ready acceptance of people like Bynum and even Herald Loomis, men her husband doesn’t trust.
Bertha Holly Quotes in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
The Joe Turner’s Come and Gone quotes below are all either spoken by Bertha Holly or refer to Bertha Holly. 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:
).
The Play
Quotes
SETH: […] All that old mumbo jumbo nonsense. I don’t know why I put up with it.
BERTHA: You don’t say nothing when he bless the house.
SETH: I just go along with that ’cause of you. You around here sprinkling salt all over the place…got pennies lined up across the threshold…all that heebie jeebie stuff. I just put up with that ’cause of you. I don’t pay that kind of stuff no mind. And you going down there to the church and wanna come come [sic] home and sprinkle salt all over the place.
BERTHA: It don’t hurt none. I can’t say if it help…but it don’t hurt none.
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Jeremy just young. He don’t know what he getting into. That gal don’t mean him no good. She’s just using him to keep from being by herself. That’s the worst use of a man you can have. You ought to be glad to wash him out of your hair. I done seen all kind of men. I done seen them come and go through here. Jeremy ain’t had enough to him for you. You need a man who’s got some understanding and who willing to work with that understanding to come to the best he can. You got your time coming. You just tries too hard and can’t understand why it don’t work for you. Trying to figure it out don’t do nothing but give you a troubled mind. Don’t no man want a woman with a troubled mind.
You get all that trouble off your mind and just when it look like you ain’t never gonna find what you want […] you look up and it’s standing right there. That’s how I met my Seth. You gonna look up one day and find everything you want standing right in front of you.
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Bertha Holly Quotes in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
The Joe Turner’s Come and Gone quotes below are all either spoken by Bertha Holly or refer to Bertha Holly. 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:
).
The Play
Quotes
SETH: […] All that old mumbo jumbo nonsense. I don’t know why I put up with it.
BERTHA: You don’t say nothing when he bless the house.
SETH: I just go along with that ’cause of you. You around here sprinkling salt all over the place…got pennies lined up across the threshold…all that heebie jeebie stuff. I just put up with that ’cause of you. I don’t pay that kind of stuff no mind. And you going down there to the church and wanna come come [sic] home and sprinkle salt all over the place.
BERTHA: It don’t hurt none. I can’t say if it help…but it don’t hurt none.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Jeremy just young. He don’t know what he getting into. That gal don’t mean him no good. She’s just using him to keep from being by herself. That’s the worst use of a man you can have. You ought to be glad to wash him out of your hair. I done seen all kind of men. I done seen them come and go through here. Jeremy ain’t had enough to him for you. You need a man who’s got some understanding and who willing to work with that understanding to come to the best he can. You got your time coming. You just tries too hard and can’t understand why it don’t work for you. Trying to figure it out don’t do nothing but give you a troubled mind. Don’t no man want a woman with a troubled mind.
You get all that trouble off your mind and just when it look like you ain’t never gonna find what you want […] you look up and it’s standing right there. That’s how I met my Seth. You gonna look up one day and find everything you want standing right in front of you.
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