A Painted House

“On the most perfect days, my mother would quietly say to me, ‘Don’t worry. The men will find something to worry about.’”

Luke introduces the milieu in which he lives day after day—one that is defined by the worrying of the adults in his life. This observation prefigures some of the anxious tendencies in Luke’s personality.

“As they cooked, I settled into my chair, ran my fingers across the damp, checkered oilcloth, and waited for my cup of coffee. It was the one vice my mother allowed me.”

Luke’s comment that his mother allows him “one vice”—a single cup of coffee—speaks to the level of control that the adults in Luke’s life have over him. He is allowed little freedom in his actions and belongings.

“My mother loved this little plot of soil because it was hers—no one else really wanted it. She treated it like a sanctuary.”

This observation about the “sanctuary” of Luke’s mother’s garden speaks to the challenges of being a married woman in 1950s rural Arkansas. Luke’s mother is allowed very few spaces in her life that are hers entirely—so she clings to and cherishes the one that she does have.