Metaphor for Class Distinctions
A person’s speech—his accent, diction, choice of words—is a clear indication of their educational background and social standing and the novel makes use of a couple of characters to hammer this point across. The novel is narrated by Will Tweedy who makes use of Southern regional dialect. His speech patterns are strongly contrasted with Lightfoot’s speech as she comes from the poorer part of their community. Miss Love, in contrast with everyone else in Cold Sassy, speaks with a noticeable lack of Southern inflection and doesn’t make use of contractions, making her sound very refined; this is also largely due to the fact that she is a newcomer from Baltimore, a Northeastern State, which also earns her the disdainful label of “yankee” from the Southern community.
Metaphor for the Past and Progress
Sassafras trees that used to be plentiful in the area was what gave the town its name and the tree is a metaphor for the town’s past. The trees, or rather the gradual disappearance of the trees, is also a metaphor for the town’s development towards modernity. There were once numerous groves of sassafras trees in the area and in order to modernize and bring economic growth into the community all the trees, save one, were cut down to build a railroad and larger, more modern houses once people started becoming more affluent. Eventually the last sassafras tree is cut down to enlarge the railroad tracks and with the last tree gone the inhabitants of the town decide to change the town’s name to make it more in vogue and marking the end of an era.
Metaphor for Modernity and Freedom
The Tweedy family’s new Cadillac instantly becomes the talk of the town as it is solid evidence that their once sleepy, bucolic community is now keeping in step with the developments of the twentieth century. The train, bound by its tracks, schedules, and engineers, was symbolic of the nineteenth century. In contrast the automobile would open up travel and mobility opportunities previously unavailable to many people; and with those opportunities came freedom like they would never know. Even on a personal level Will Tweedy experiences the way the Cadillac opens up social barriers when it allows him to pick up Lightfoot to go on a little joyride.
Metaphor for Failure
The residents of the more affluent Cold Sassy community look down on the residents of Mill Town for nothing more than being poor. The town earns its name for the many mills in the area and unsurprisingly many of the residents earn a living as simple laborers and factory employees unlike majority of the Cold Sassy residents who are either entrepreneurs or landowners. Their disdain of Mill Town residents is so pervasive that when Will Tweedy is caught kissing Lightfoot his outraged parents punish him by barring him from driving the car. The residents of Cold Sassy associated Mill Town with poverty and as such it—and by extension the residents of the town—became symbolic for failure.
Metaphor for Hope and Redemption
Rucker and Love’s child is a metaphor for hope. Although the town’s residents and Rucker’s family reject Miss Love, she knows that their sense of family unity has had a way of overcoming all biases and prejudices; she has seen this love for family in action through Rucker’s honoring of Camp during a eulogy. Despite his disdain for Camp he did his best to honor his memory Miss Love is confident they will all accept their child because the child is Rucker’s. Moreover their child is proof positive that their union had become more than just a union of convenience but one of genuine love, thus allowing Miss Love a shot a redemption.
