One Foot in Eden

Amy Holcombe is Billy’s wife and Isaac’s mother. Amy is in her early twenties. She is a beautiful woman with blond hair and blue eyes. Amy uses her beauty to seduce Holland because of her desperation to give Billy a child. She remains completely loyal to Billy even after she sleeps with Holland to get pregnant. Amy’s decision to sleep with Holland comes from her unique struggles as an Appalachian woman. She experiences ostracization from the other women in Jocassee, who make her feel worthless because she does not have a child. The societal pressures for women, mixed with Amy’s love for Billy, cause her to make the fatal decision to sleep with Holland, and this choice accelerates the narrative and gives rise to the central conflict.

Amy believes in a moral system based on concepts of divine punishment and retribution. At first, Amy connects her childish mistake of pushing her brother Matthew off a loft with her inability to get pregnant, believing that the latter is a cosmic punishment for the former. However, Amy’s moral system only applies to herself and her own guilt, and she makes it clear when she does not connect Billy’s infertility with any mistakes from his past. Instead, Amy looks for a way out of their predicament by asking the Widow for help with Billy’s infertility. Amy’s relationship with the Widow reveals that Amy believes in Christian religious concepts and in a more nebulous understanding of spirituality and the supernatural. When Amy’s prayers to God do not work, she turns to the Widow, hoping that the mysterious woman can fix her problem. Even though the Widow’s help has nothing to do with spells, Amy fears the Widow’s supposed power and believes that she has put a curse on her family. Amy struggles to reconcile her belief in the practical nature of the world with her fear of the supernatural and the divine. Even though the law never prosecutes Amy and Billy for their crimes, she knows that some outside force will make sure that she pays for her transgressions. The narrative implies that Amy’s moral system proves to be true when the river pulls her and Billy under at the end of the novel. Although Amy could save herself, she chooses to dive back underwater and search for Billy. This choice reinforces the fact that she remains tied to Billy and is resolved to support Billy, even if it means meeting her own demise.

Billy Holcombe is Amy’s husband and Holland’s murderer. He is a handsome, smart, hardworking farmer who loves Amy and wants to make her happy. Billy feels ashamed that he cannot get Amy pregnant, even though it is not his fault. Billy walks with a limp because he had polio as a child, and his right leg never fully recovered.

Billy’s internal struggle comes from his insecurity over his disability. Even though Amy does not give him a reason to think that he will lose her, Billy feels emasculated by Holland’s physique and his reputation as a war hero. Because Billy’s disability prevented him from fighting in the Korean War, he fears that Holland’s chaotic, violent nature will attract Amy more than his own kindness. Billy focuses on the hard labor of farming to disconnect from his emotional distress over his marriage. Eventually, Billy’s insecurities compel him to “prove” himself as Amy’s protector by killing Holland. Billy’s history in Jocassee reveals that he has known Holland since he was a child, and he knows from experience that Holland will never back down from a fight. Billy believes that the only way to get Holland to leave them alone is to kill him. Despite his guilt over this crime, Billy proves his intellect when he outsmarts Will by cleverly hiding Holland’s body and escaping legal repercussions. Billy’s desire to protect Amy and the baby compels him to outsmart the local law enforcement and get away with murder, but he does not go unpunished, for his system is similar to Amy’s. Billy believes that he will one day have to pay for his crimes. At first, he believes that Holland will haunt him for the rest of his life. In a way, Billy’s fear proves to be true, for when he realizes that Isaac has the same eyes as Holland, he knows that he will be reminded of his crime every day for the rest of his life. Despite his guilt, Billy cares for Isaac and never gives the boy a reason to hate him.

Isaac Holcombe is Amy and Holland’s son. He has Holland’s brown eyes, which marks him as a Winchester even though he does not realize this until later in the novel. When Isaac is 18 years old, he discovers that Billy murdered his father, and he struggles to reconcile the fact that the kind man he loves is a murderer. Isaac’s main internal struggle occurs when he must choose between protecting the family who raised him and uncovering his parents’ dark past.

Isaac’s relationship with Mrs. Winchester alludes to the secrets in his parents’ past. Isaac does not know why Mrs. Winchester wants to speak with him, yet he unknowingly holds the answer to this question because he has Holland’s Gold Star in his room. Although Mrs. Winchester asks Isaac to find out what happened to Holland, she kills herself before she learns the outcome of her request, leaving the secrets of the past for Isaac to untangle alone. Isaac wrestles with the knowledge of his parent’s crimes and starts referring to Billy as “that man” rather than calling him “Daddy.” However, when Billy and Isaac dig up Holland’s remains together, Isaac realizes that Holland’s bones mean nothing to him. He feels satisfied that Billy and Amy were honest with him and that he kept his word to Mrs. Winchester, but he feels no emotional obligation to Holland. In this moment, Isaac realizes that family is about more than biology, because even though Billy is not his father, Billy raised him well and never gave him a reason to question their relationship. Isaac chooses to prioritize and honor this relationship, as evidenced by his decision to let the Gold Star and Holland’s remains wash away in the river. Even though Amy and Billy are punished with death by drowning almost immediately after Isaac’s decision, his parents still know that he chose to support them and accept their past decisions. Isaac loses every member of his family in a 24-hour period and must face the consequences of his parents’ crimes alone. Although Isaac has reached adulthood, Will steps in as a father figure since he was never able to fulfill that role in his life. Because Will allows Isaac to choose whether to force his parents to face justice, Isaac knows that Will understands the complex nuances of morality and appreciates the fact that justice is never as simple as it seems.