The Kitchen House

“Not knowing what was expected of me, I stayed put on a pallet in the kitchen. In those first days, I studied Belle’s every move. I had no appetite, and when she insisted that I eat, my stomach emptied violently. Each time I was sick, it meant another cleaning. As Belle’s frustration with me grew, so did my fear of upsetting her. At night I slept on a pallet in a corner of Belle’s upstairs room. On the second night, unable to sleep, I went to stand at Belle’s bedside, comforted by the sound of her soft night breathing.” 

This moment reveals Lavinia’s desire to please others. Even after arriving on the plantation without any knowledge of who she is, she is still eager to please Belle, even though Belle’s a stranger. Lavinia’s desire to please others at the cost of her own happiness is a constant theme throughout the novel. As a child, this means that Lavinia does her chores diligently and is always there when needed, but as an adult this translates to her doing whatever Marshall says, even at the cost of her own safety and wellbeing. 

“Mrs. Pyke raised me in the big house and taught me everything, just like a white girl. She even shows me how to read and write. She says there’s no reason to act like I don’t know better, just because I’m half Negro. […] For seven years that woman was like my whole world.” 

Here, Belle describes the duality of her living situation. As James’s daughter, she was raised by his mother in the big house. Although Belle’s mother was one of James’s slaves, she was given the beginnings of an education. However, once James marries, Belle moves out of the big house and into the kitchen house. She’s no longer publically treated like his daughter, although he still secretly treats her like one. Belle is unlike the other slaves because she’s able to read and write, and she knows what it’s like to have once lived in the big house as a resident rather than as a slave.

“I was quiet but encouraged to speak, as everyone found my Irish dialect amusing. My appearance was often a topic of discussion. Fanny hoped that the freckles across my nose would fill in to give my pale skin more color. Beattie was always trying to fluff my red hair over my pointed ears, and even Belle commented on my oddly colored amber eyes.” 

This describes Lavinia’s physical appearance, but it also reveals how odd she appears to her new slave family. The slaves are used to being separated by skin color—the white people live in the big house while the African American slaves live in the kitchen house or the quarters. Lavinia is an anomaly, as she is not only white but also foreign, and she’s living with them in the slave housing instead of in the big house. The quote also reveals the growing affection between the little Irish girl and her slave family.

“The odd-looking man had my attention. He stood with his hand firmly on Marshall’s shoulder and stared arrogantly at the people of the quarters and their surroundings. He leaned down occasionally to say something to Marshall, and it struck me how distressed Marshall looked, though he made no move to distance himself. I realize now that even as a young child, I guessed the vile nature of this man, and though I did not understand, I already sensed Marshall’s entrapment.” 

This is one of the first moments that Lavinia notices how strange and unpleasant Mr. Waters is and how much Marshall seems to dislike him. However, it’s also a moment of foreshadowing, as things between Mr. Waters and Marshall only grow more tense after this moment. Eventually, it’s revealed that Mr. Waters is sexually abusing Marshall. Yet even after the slaves kill Mr. Waters, Marshall continues to look down on them, just like Mr. Waters did. As a result, Marshall ends up perpetuating the cycle of abuse.

“When the cap’n brings her here, his own mama, Mrs. Pyke, was real sick. My black mama knows how to work plants and gets Mrs. Pyke back on her feet. The cap’n stays here over time, and don’t you know, that’s where I come in. But when I was born, my mama got the fever and died. They say the cap’n carried on like she was a white woman.” 

Here, Belle describes the relationship between her deceased mother and her father. Her mother was a slave, but James fell in love with her. It’s not clear whether he loved her because of how she helped his mother, or for other reasons, but the fact that he mourned her death reveals his love for her. The complicated nature of their relationship appears later in the novel, when Marshall is raping Beattie and Lavinia gets mad at her instead of Marshall. Lavinia mistakenly believes that Beattie is welcoming Marshall’s advances, but Belle explains that Beattie is a slave and has no say in the matter. It’s impossible to know whether Belle’s mother reciprocated James’s love, or if she was just going along with it, like Beattie, because he owned her.

“The first time I see that little Sally, I don’t like her just for being who she is. She’s my sister, but I can’t tell her that. And just because she’s all white, she’s never gonna be moved to the kitchen house like me. But this summer, after I come to know the child, I see she got the same ways as Beattie, smiling and happy to give what she has. After a time I come to like her and think, Maybe when she gets older, I’ll tell her myself that we’re sisters. But then, just like that, she’s gone.”

Here, Belle describes her feelings toward Sally. Although Sally is technically her sister, Belle feels resentful that Sally is living the life she once had in the big house. She finds it unfair that James separates she and Sally because of their skin color. Once she gets to know Sally, she realizes that her feelings toward her aren’t fair because Sally is just a little girl and has no control over her situation in life. Just as she’s beginning to grow fond of Sally, the little girl dies, and this makes Belle feel guilty.

“I couldn’t quite believe his miniature features, and when his eyes opened, they focused on me. His little mouth worked as though trying to speak, and from deep within me, love took hold. Mama tried again and again to get Miss Martha to take her child; each time she rejected him, I couldn’t wait to have him back in my arms.” 

Here, Lavinia describes her feelings towards Martha’s new baby. Immediately after hearing the news of Sally’s death, Martha goes into labor. Once the baby boy is born, Martha rejects him. Martha can’t cope with the loss of so many children, and in her grief and loneliness she’s too scared to get close to another baby for fear of losing him, too. However, Lavinia instantly falls in love with the baby. She names him Campbell, after her own deceased little brother, and she embraces the role of his caretaker.

“I thought I recognized Marshall’s voice, but the sounds were oddly disturbing. Instinctively, I ran behind the protection of the garden fence. I hunched down and peered through a gap between the boards. When the privy door swung open, the tutor stood in the doorway. Then he turned back, kicked at something on the floor, and said for it to get up. Somehow I knew it was Marshall. I pulled back when the man scanned the area, and I didn’t dare look again until he was up at the big house. I waited until he was inside before I cautiously ran to the privy. When I peeked in, I found Marshall, partially clothed, sitting in the corner on the floor. He looked dazed, and when I called his name, he didn’t seem to hear me.” 

This is the first moment that fully demonstrates what Mr. Waters is doing to Marshall. While it’s never directly stated, this moment implies that Mr. Waters is sexually and physically abusing Marshall. Lavinia is the first one to find Marshall after the abuse. It’s clear she cares about Marshall, as she offers him a bite of her apple and runs to get help. When Lavinia and Marshall are older, she continues to care for him, remembering the awful events of his childhood and feeling compassion for him. However, once they get married and he becomes abusive, she loses those feelings for him. 

“Here’s what happened: Waters goes after Dory and now he’s a dead man. Ben sees to that. And now the privy behind Mama’s house got something in there that nobody gonna talk about. We work fast, Mama, Uncle Jacob, and me, to clean out that tutor’s room.”

Belle describes what happened to Mr. Waters. After he sexually abused Marshall and tried to rape Dory. Ben kills Mr. Waters to avenge his sister and protect her and others from the tutor’s violence and lust. Once Ben kills him, the slaves come together to erase the evidence. Belle even writes a letter, making it look like Mr. Waters resigned, and they get rid of all his belongings. Despite that the slaves save Marshall from further abuse, he grows up resentful of them, abusing them and treating them as less than human. This demonstrates that Marshall perpetuates the abuse rather than overcoming it.

“Miss Martha’s mental and physical health strengthened as her laudanum doses diminished. Now, in the late mornings, she kept me with her. She had writing slates brought to her and began to teach me to read and to write. I was an eager student and relished her attention, though I wondered that she did not care more for her own children. She never asked after Marshall, and when she began to visit the downstairs rooms again, she was content to view Campbell in Dory’s care but never requested to hold him.” 

Lavinia and Martha’s relationship deepens after Sally’s death and baby Campbell’s birth. Martha takes her in as a daughter, teaching her to read and write and keeping her by her side. Lavinia provides comfort to Martha, and Martha provides a nurturing maternal relationship to Lavinia. While the two fulfill a need in each other’s life, Martha neglects her own children. While never stated directly, it’s implied that Martha blames Marshall for Sally’s death, and she’s too afraid to get close to baby Campbell for fear that she’ll lose him, too.

“She had two sisters. The older sister, Sarah, had been the visitor from Williamsburg. The younger one, Isabelle, ‘died when she was twelve. It was a great loss,’ Miss Martha said, then quickly began to speak of her mother. She was from England, stern and exacting and intent on raising proper English daughters. Her father was the opposite. As a young man, he had come from Ireland.” 

Here, Martha tells Lavinia about her past. This moment demonstrates another reason why the two develop a deep bond: both Lavinia and Martha are familiar with deep loss, and both have a connection to Ireland. The two are also alike in the ways they cope with grief: Lavinia’s loss of her parents was so unbearable that she initially blocked the memory altogether, while Martha’s loss of her children is so unbearable that she keeps herself drugged on opium to forget. When Lavinia is older and married to Marshall, she too begins taking laudanum, just like Martha, to cope with the grief of Marshall’s physical abuse towards her and her feelings of helplessness. 

“Everybody’s scared of Rankin. Ever since he went up to the big house and Miss Martha talk smart to him, Ida says he’s hitting on them like never before. He knows something’s up about Waters, but nobody’s talking, and that’s making him mad. They, too, he got it in for me since that night when I give him the whiskey and he don’t get to me. Now every morning he comes here to the kitchen house.” 

Here, Belle describes Rankin’s character. He is the power-hungry overseer of the field slaves, and he continually physically and sexually abuses them. He’s raped Ida, one of the field slaves, so many times that most of her children are his. It’s clear he wants to rape Belle, but she goes along with the lie that she’s James’s mistress, hoping that this will deter his advances. Rankin was close friends with Mr. Waters, and once he’s dead, Marshall looks up to Rankin as a mentor. Rankin reinforces an ideology of hatred towards the slave to Marshall, who grows up to follow in his footsteps.

“Papa’s saying how Marshall’s spending all his time with Rankin. He’s letting that boy drink liquor, and young as he is, Papa says, Marshall’s already got a taste for it. Papa says Rankin got it in for Miss Martha and he doing everything he can to turn her boy against her.” 

Belle describes how Marshall looks up to Rankin and what a bad influence Rankin is on him. Once Mr. Waters dies, Marshall is left alone without a mother or father, since Martha on opium and James is away on business. After the death of his sister and the sexual abuse, Marshall didn’t have anyone to help him work through his grief. Instead, he clings to Rankin as a mentor, because Rankin allows the boy to follow him around. As a result, Marshall grows up to become just like Rankin—a hateful man who rapes, abuses, and is an alcoholic. 

“You never gonna be cullad like us, and that mean you a white girl and you goin’ to live in a big house. Anyway, you can’t marry Ben. He cullad.’ ‘Fanny right about that,’ Beattie agreed. I began to cry. ‘I can marry Ben if I want to. You can’t make me be a white girl.’” 

Before this moment, Fanny, Beattie, and Lavinia are making wreaths outside to celebrate their ninth birthdays. Fanny, the most outspoken of the group, tells Lavinia that one day she’ll be living in a big house. This upsets Lavinia because she views Mama, Belle, the twins, Papa, and Ben as her family. She can’t imagine ever leaving them, and the idea of living like a white girl in a big house is too upsetting because it means separating from her family. This is an important moment that reveals how Lavinia identifies more with the slaves who are raising her than with her skin color.

“He was a striking man with deep-set brown eyes, a firm jaw, and an easygoing smile. Of average height, he was strongly built and carried himself with assurance. He always took off his hat when he came indoors and had a habit of pushing back his thick brown hair before he spoke. Will’s directness was his greatest charm. He looked into your eyes, and when you looked back, you knew he was incapable of deceit.” 

Here, Lavinia describes Will. While he’s notably handsome, most important is his character. He is an upright and just man. When James puts him in charge of his field slaves later in the novel, the plantation prospers under James’s kindness. While Rankin stole from the slaves and raped them, Will treats them with dignity and respect. He gives them time off, caravans them to church, and feeds them well.

“Her behavior had no meaning. She wandered from room to room, moving furniture and household articles from place to place. Mama took me to her, thinking I might bring her what I once had, but the vacant look in her eyes frightened me, and she did not react to me as Mama had hoped. Once again the doctor made his appearance and prescribed doses of laudanum. If the truth be told, we were all relieved to see her take the medication that helped her to sleep.” 

Here, Lavinia describes Martha’s state after returning from Philadelphia. While there, a yellow fever outbreak occurred, killing her father, Dory, and Campbell. James almost died as well, leaving Martha to care for everyone alone. These losses, especially that of another child, are too much for Martha to bear. When she returns home, she has completely lost her grip on reality. Even Lavinia is unable to comfort her as she once had done. The only solution the doctor gives is to keep her drugged on laudanum so that she can sleep. Everyone knows the drops don’t cure anything but keep her sedated, but this time, unlike other times, everyone agrees that it’s best given her despondent state.

“The spring of 1794 was cold and wet. Some of the workers from the quarters were ill with cough and fever, but Rankin insisted they were well enough to set out tobacco plants. Papa George said they were sick because they were close to starving. When our family sat down to the evening meal, it was difficult to enjoy simple but plentiful food, knowing of the hunger such a short distance away.”

Rankin becomes more brazen in his pursuit of power, lust, and violence since James is too sick to keep an eye on things. Rankin is once again starving the slaves, stealing their portions of food, and overworking them. Rankin ends up killing a field slaved named Jimmy, Dory’s former husband and the father of Sukey. Once James hears about this, he gathers his strength to fire Rankin. He then makes Will the offer that if he’ll oversee the fields for five years, he’ll give him his own land. Will agrees.

This moment also demonstrates the vast difference in living conditions between the field slaves and the big house slaves: The field slaves live in shacks with little food, while the big house slaves live in small, but sturdy, houses and receive ample food. However, once Will takes over, he treats the field slaves with compassion and respect, and they begin to thrive.

“Unlike her twin, Beattie seemed destined to be a beauty. She was soft-spoken and kind, and when she smiled, her deep facial dimples appeared as though to punctuate her easy disposition. Beattie was clean and careful in her dress, and she loved pretty things. Sewing and embroidery were her passions, and her clothes always had adornment.” 

Fanny and Beattie are Mama’s twin girls, but they are nothing alike. While Fanny is tall, plain-looking, and outspoken, Beattie is quiet and beautiful. Lavinia cares for them both equally, looking at them as her best friends and sisters. For most of their childhood, the three girls are inseparable. This makes it heartbreaking for Lavinia when, later in the novel, her husband, Marshall, has an affair with Beattie. Lavinia first blames Beattie, thinking she must have encouraged his advances, but later she realizes that Marshall has been raping her, and Beattie had no say in the matter.

“I was in the kitchen by myself, sweeping, and I don’t hear nothing until I got a knife at my neck and Rankin in my ear, telling me if I make a noise, that knife’s going in. Then Marshall, drunk like Rankin, comes at me. I start kicking, but Rankin twists my arm and punches my stomach. I start screaming, but Rankin takes off my head rag and stuffs it in my mouth. It’s hard to breathe and I’m choking on blood, but when I see what Marshall’s gonna do next, I go wild. Then Rankin hits me and I go down.” 

Here, Belle describes the horror and helplessness she felt as Marshall raped her and Rankin watched. Marshall has always hated Belle ever since he was a little boy; he thought she was his father’s mistress and that she was the source of his mother’s unhappiness. However, Belle and Marshall are actually sister and brother, which makes this moment more horrifying. Afterward, Mama figures out what’s happened, but Belle begs her not to say anything to anyone.

“By the time Ben and Lucy’s baby, Junior, was born, Belle, though appearing to have recovered from her physical trauma, remained moody and withdrawn. Curiously, there was no explanation. From adult whisperings, Fanny, Beattie, and I tried to piece together what little information we could, but later that fall, when Belle’s stomach began to swell, we did not associate the event with Belle’s pregnancy. When we were told she was to have a baby, all three of us guessed Will was the father, as he had become a frequent visitor to the kitchen. I watched jealously at the concern he showed for Belle.”

This moment demonstrates Lavinia’s immaturity. Not having known what happened, she immediately believes that Will is the father of Belle’s baby, and she’s jealous because she’s always had a crush on Will. This misunderstanding will later lead to Lavinia’s marriage to Marshall, which leads to the darkest moments in her life. When Lavinia comes of age, she still believes that Will is the father of Belle’s baby. When he visits with the hope of courting her, she is disgusted that he would go behind Belle’s back like that. Despite still having feelings for Will, she ends up marrying Marshall, the actual father of Belle’s baby.

“In truth, after Mr. Boran’s display, I was relieved, yet I wondered why Marshall did not at least attempt a kiss. In many ways, his treatment of me reminded me of the way I had behaved toward the doll that Mama Mae had given me as a child. I favored it so that I had refused myself the joy of playing with it, daring to love it only with my eyes. But in doing so, I had denied myself its very purpose.” 

Lavinia’s intended, Mr. Boran, tries to rape her before the wedding. Marshall rescues her and begins courting her, but he doesn’t kiss her and later doesn’t consummate their marriage. It appears that the sexual abuse Marshall suffered as a child, has complicated his relationship to sex. When he rapes Belle, it is an act of violence and hatred. Lavinia is confused as to why Marshall doesn’t make any advances towards her, but, for him, sex isn’t an act of intimacy—it’s a means of control. 

“We were but a few moments into our marriage, and already I knew how troubled it was. Desperate to right things, I doubled my efforts to gain Marshall’s goodwill. When I was with my husband, I gave the appearance of being unmindful to anyone but him. I no longer spoke openly to anyone but waited for stolen moments to catch up with the latest news or to hear of a small need that I might be able to satisfy. It was Beattie I felt closest to; she best understood my dilemma, as she witnessed it daily in the dining room.” 

After moving back to the plantation together, Marshall immediately treats Lavinia differently. When they lived in town while still engaged, Marshall was romantic and kind to Lavinia, but now he’s harsh, distant, and abusive. Marshall won’t allow her to talk to the slaves, saying that she needs to act like the woman of the house rather than as a slave, and he is constantly agitated by her presence. Even when they have sex, it’s rough and painful, and he is always drunk and leaves immediately afterward. Lavinia blames herself, not understanding the change in him. She tries to remedy the situation by becoming even more submissive. She begins to feel isolated, cutting herself off from the very people she has always considered family.

“When Beattie left the room, in shock I saw that she was again with child. Without warning, all of my fear transformed to rage. The insanity of it all! How dare he! Who was this man to so control my life? Each day I was forced to bear my husband’s intolerable behavior, and with Beattie I was forced once again to see the results of it. I was as enslaved as all the others. I could not fight back the anger that coursed through me.”

By this point, Lavinia knows that Marshall is the father of Belle’s baby and that he’s been raping Beattie. However, Lavinia feels helpless against Marshall—he belittles her and beats her anytime she speaks her mind. On this night, after seeing that Beattie is again pregnant and knowing that it’s again Marshall’s, Lavinia finally stands up to him. She tells him that he needs to stop raping Beattie and acting like an animal. He drags her by her hair into his bedroom. She doesn’t describe what happened to her, but it’s suggested that she was raped and beaten, as she’s bleeding and vomiting afterwards. After this moment, she truly feels helpless, realizing that there is no feasible means of escape.