Drenched in Light

“This struck the child in a very sore spot for nothing pleased her so much as to sit atop of the gate post and hail the passing vehicles on their way south to Orlando, or north to Sanford. That white shell road was her great attraction.”

This moment represents Isis’s internal response to how Grandma Potts treats her for sitting on the fence to watch the road. Within the first several paragraphs of the text, Hurston introduces the reader to the “white shell road” symbol, and she effectively builds tension between Isis and Grandma Potts.

“Everybody in the country, white and colored, knew of Isis Watts, the joyful.”

Hurston positions Isis as the story’s protagonist by illustrating her influence on her surrounding community. Occurring early on in the story, this line reflects how powerful Isis’s exuberant innocence and demeanor are on those around her.

“Now there are certain things that Grandma Potts felt no one of this female persuasion should do—one was to sit with the knees separated, ‘settin’ brazen’ she called it; another was whistling, another playing with boys, neither must a lady cross her legs.”

As this list of rules demonstrates, Grandma Potts expects Isis to be a stereotypical, proper lady. The first and last rules pertain to how a woman should sit or position her body, which not only dictates how a woman must physically appear but also how a woman is expected to be perceived. Grandma Potts adheres to strict stereotypical gender norms because she is focused on her family’s outward appearance.