The Book Woman's Daughter

Nature is a symbol that appears throughout the novel. People of rural Kentucky are deeply connected with the land on which they live. The Appalachian Mountains are characterized and anthropomorphized (made human-like) as an old woman: “ol’ Kentucky hills [...] breath of grandmother mountains sweet on our face” (195). The land is a symbol of a sweet grandmother. Honey, who faces discrimination in town, feels “safe in woods” (121). This develops the grandmother symbolism to include forests as a source of safety.

“The Blues” specifically are associated with nature to symbolize how they are natural. “Othering” describes people who are different as unnatural, and Honey and her family are treated as such within the larger community spaces. However, Richardson clearly aligns Honey and her family with nature. Most of the rural Kentucky community relies on nature for safety, survival, and comfort, and “the Blues” even more so. Honey and Mama’s allies also view them as natural and beautiful. The doctor calls Honey’s Mama “Bluet “because “Mama was a fit girl who could turn as blue as the familiar bluet damselfly skinning the Kentucky creek beds when she was born” (179). Here, a blue skin

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