48 pages • 1 hour read
Bill Cleaver, Vera CleaverWhere the Lilies Bloom
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1969A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 5-8Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 5 Summary
Mary Call and her siblings discover the hardships of wildcrafting, including proximity to dangerous animals and physical exhaustion. Romey becomes convinced one morning that they have found goldenseal, a highly coveted herb which will make them rich. They take a basket of the healthy goldenseal roots and leaves home. All of the siblings discuss what they would do with the abundance of money. Mary Call tells Roy Luther about the goldenseal, assuring him that he shouldn’t worry about anything. She explains that the land is theirs now and that the Wildcrafting will take care of their expenses during the winter months. In the spring and summer, they will work the land. Roy Luther listens but then falls asleep. Mary Call realizes that he will not live past spring.
The siblings take the goldenseal to a cheerful Mr. Connell. With a portion of the money, Ima Dean and Romey treat themselves to soft drinks. Mr. Connell gifts a few cans of peaches to Mary Call and inquires after her father; he and Mrs. Connell plan to make a visit to their house soon to check on Roy Luther. Mrs. Connell calls Ima Dean a “little ragpicker” due to her threadbare shoes and too small dress; Ima Dean doesn’t outwardly react, which makes Mary Call proud. On the way back home, the chill in the air makes Mary Call think about how they need to prepare for the winter months.
Roy Luther passes away. It is revealed that Mary Call is writing the text. She forbids the siblings from entering Roy Luther’s room; only Romey asks for details and an explanation, remarking that Mary Call’s tightened face looks “about a hundred years old” (64). Mary Call, feeling like she is not strong enough to keep her promise to her father and hold the knowledge of his death on her own, reveals to Romey that Roy Luther is dead and that they must bury him on Old Joshua that night. Romey goes pale but makes little protest; Mary Call warns him that he cannot tell their sisters until tomorrow and he cannot fall apart emotionally. He stands outside in the sun and then runs off, and Mary Call aches for him. She tries to pretend that everything is normal and does her chores.
That evening, the siblings argue about the expense of electricity; they do not have a washing machine or electric lamps. Devola sings as she cleans. Mary Call reiterates to Romey that they cannot tell anyone outside of the family about Roy Luther’s death, or else the people from the county might send them to “an orphanage” where they “wouldn’t be a family any more” (66). She contemplates how they will get their father’s body to the burial site and muses about the nature of death. Her father once said that “there would never be any understanding of death” (67). Mr. And Mrs. Connell arrive to check on Roy Luther. Mrs. Connell inspects the yard, looking like “some spindly bird” (67). Mary Call is able to persuade the Connells that Roy Luther is asleep, and Mrs. Connell says a few words both commending and condemning Roy Luther’s pride. The couple then leaves, and Mary Call prepares herself for the burial.
Chapter 6 Summary
Together, Mary Call and Romey struggle to take their father up to Old Joshua using a wagon. From the mountain top, Mary Call looks back at Trial Valley where they live; it looks “misted white from rim to rim, lonely as a moonscape” (70). She talks to the Lord, begging him for strength. A raven follows the two siblings, even landing on Roy Luther’s body. Throughout the trip, Romey struggles emotionally while Mary Call reassures and persuades him. He tries to hide the fact that he is crying, but he cannot contain himself when he accuses Mary Call of being “awful” for not letting them give their father a “proper burial.” He continues to protest, even when she tells him that this is what Roy Luther wanted. Romey kneels onto the ground, unable to go any further. He exclaims that he does not even care if the county people take him away; at least then he would not have to see Mary Call’s face. He wants her to get angry at him and show emotion. Mary Call herself is surprised at how “calm” she is. She has no one else and feels so wrong that she could win in a fight against a bear.
Romey wants Mary Call to promise that they will come back and get Roy Luther and give him a proper burial like Napoleon Bonaparte. Mary Call corrects him and says that Bonaparte had a simple burial “in a valley next to a stream he loved” (73). This undoes the tension, and Romey calls her smart. They bury their father; Romey is surprised at how deep the hole is, making him realize that Roy Luther planned this long ago and foresaw it, even thinking of piling dirt and rock so that animals would not get his body. Romey wants to hurry through the task and be done with it, but Mary Call makes them stop to say a few kind words about their father. Mary Call notices a tree that looks unique, branches swayed by harsh winds, its roots refusing to lose their hold in a storm. She thinks it looks “tough” and it makes her feel the same way, as if she and the tree “were related.” On the way back home, Romey claims that they did, in fact, give their father a proper burial.
The morning after the burial, Mary Call informs her sisters about their father’s death and that they cannot tell a soul about it. Devola does not show much emotion, but Ima Dean sobs and attacks a rooster. Mary Call and Romey go wildcrafting, and Romey brings up several concerns. He is worried about the absence of goldenseal, but Mary Call assures him that there is more to pull and they will manage with what the land provides. He worries about how both he and Mary Call will go to school, leaving Devola and Ima Dean alone, which doesn’t seem like a good, safe idea. Mary Call is determined to figure the situation out, because education is important; she refuses to have people call them a “happy pappy,” or a type of poor, ignorant person “who sits rocking on the porch of his shotgun shack all day long waiting for the mailman to bring him his charity check” (78). These people, she asserts, look happy at face value but are actually deeply lonely.
Kiser arrives at their house shortly after they return. He is dressed in nice clean clothes and wants to see Roy Luther. Mary Call refuses, claiming that he is too sick and that she is the “head of the Luther family now” (80). Kiser alludes to the fact, again, that he would hate to marry Mary Call because of her stubbornness and strength; his intentions, of course, are to Devola, who is sweet and kind. He tries to tempt an unwavering Mary Call by promising Roy Luther rides in his car and Sunday dinners. Mary Call persuades him to let them borrow the car, ostensibly to get Roy Luther used to riding. She also wants a radio for Devola. Kiser promises to bring both the car and radio the next day; in return, Mary Call must convince her father into letting Devola marry Kiser. After he leaves, Romey and Mary Call talk about learning to drive and missing their father.
Chapter 7 Summary
Kiser brings over a radio and his newly cleaned car for Roy Luther to drive; Mary Call notes how careful and attentive he is to the car. After he leaves for town, Romey states that Kiser thinks himself Devola’s jularker (Appalachian term meaning beau, often in a negative way). They discuss driving the car, and Romey claims that he drove Mrs. Breathitt’s car one day at school.
After the day’s wildcrafting is over, the family gets into Kiser’s car. Devola acts as if this is a normal occurrence, “sprawling” out on the backseat and demanding that Mary Call turn on the radio. Mary Call tries to drive, pushing random knobs that cause the car to “jump straight up and leap backward” (89). She ends up ramming into their fence. Devola asks to take a turn; Kiser taught her how to drive last summer. Romey too wants to take over, but Mary Call, nervous about any more driving, says they are finished for the day.
Later, they hear a sound; shocked, they see Devola driving in circles in the front yard, effortlessly. After this, driving becomes all the family wants to do. Mary Call tries to warn them that winter is coming, but they pay no attention to her, exhilarated by the freedom of the car.
Devola and Ima Dean head off into the mountains; after bickering with Mary Call, Romey follows them, leaving Mary Call to work alone. She finds herself crying, talking to the Lord about the state of her life. She wonders if the family would be better off without her. Hornet stings break her reverie, and she swells in an allergic reaction. At home, she finds Kiser on the porch. Kiser tells her that Roy Luther is not in his room. Anxious, Mary Call assesses the situation and sees that he cannot be persuaded to leave. She throws up in the bathroom. The siblings come back from the mountains. Romey, in response to Kiser’s inquiry about Roy Luther, tells him that their father is still in the mountains, angry at Ima Dean’s childish behavior. None of the siblings remark that Mary Call looks visibly unwell.
Kiser Pease promises that he will bring them a cow tomorrow since Devola likes animals and milk. The siblings begin to build a pen for it. Due to her allergic reaction, Mary Call isn’t able to help. Romey apologizes to her that night, stroking her hair and asking after her health. He says the siblings will work all day to help out. Mary Call reminds him that they have to go to town tomorrow to register for the new school year. She dreams that she marries Kiser Pease and it solves every one of the family’s problems.
Chapter 8 Summary
Kiser brings the cow over to the Luther house. Mary Call and Kiser go back and forth about plans for the day, Mary Call insisting that Kiser take Ima Dean with him when he and Devola go into town to get her a driver’s license. To Mary Call’s consternation, a resolute Kiser demands to speak with Roy Luther by nightfall.
Mary Call and Romey head to the schoolhouse on foot. They discuss whether Roy Luther’s burial was sinful or proper and what to do about Kiser’s determination to see Roy Luther. Mary Call lectures Romey on his urge to constantly use violence to solve his problems; she says this is why poor mountain people have a reputation of “being ignorant and crazy” (104). The family needs to use their God-given minds to overcome difficult situations, otherwise they will become a stereotype. Ignorance, she strongly believes, is worse than poverty.
Their principal and teacher, Miss Breathitt, greets them warmly at the schoolhouse. Mary Call secures a job in the cafeteria for herself and Romey so that they have food to eat during the school day. She also asks about the age of the Great Smoky Mountains. Miss Breathitt’s ready knowledge impresses Mary Call, and Mary Call views her as a role model.
Miss Breathitt values being clean and curious about the world, believing that “being clean was one of the wonderful things in life,” close to “godliness” (106). Mary Call greatly appreciates her teacher’s bearing and worldview. Miss Breathitt also values friendships, and Mary Call realizes that, for a time at least, the Luthers cannot have schoolfriends over, such as the Graybeals, because the family has to keep their father’s death a secret. This pains Romey, who wants to spend time with his friends.
On the way back home, Mary Call decides to tell Kiser that she wants to marry him in order to scare him away. This plan is unnecessary, however; when Romey and Mary Call arrive home, the sisters inform them that Kiser was hit by a truck in town and is seriously injured. Mary Call is cautiously put at ease, but she also worries that things are working out too well—Kiser is away in a hospital, and they have a car, animals, and money. She wonders what will come and “spoil” their life. A shadow from a cloud passes above the mountains.
Chapters 5-8 Analysis
In the first section of the novel, Mary Call’s ability to gain ownership of the house and land changes the dynamics of the Luthers’ lives. In this middle section, the death of their father propels the plot forward, ushering in new problems and emotions. Chapter 6 contains Roy Luther’s death, and it also reveals that the text is not only narrated by Mary Call, but it is also being written by her. This gives the text a reflective feel and foreshadows a happy ending that gives Mary the space and resources to write about her experiences.
The Cleavers use different characterization methods in this section to highlight the moral takeaways of the text. While Mary Call is insightful, she does not share everything about herself; she chooses what to divulge to the reader. Mary Call works to keep her emotions in control and manage every situation, but Romey’s observation that she looks clenched and a “hundred years old” upon realizing her father is dead reveals her deep pain (64). While she desperately wants to be exemplary and stoic, she is still a 14-year-old girl trying to navigate tremendous responsibilities and grief. This scene develops the theme of Processing Grief at a Young Age. Romey’s comments contribute and further expand the indirect characterization of Mary Call; the Cleavers show her personality and motives through less direct means. This opens space for ambiguity and multiple interpretations, giving the character a sense of verisimilitude and complexity. Mary Call and her siblings are dynamic characters, while Roy Luther, for example, is a one-dimensional or static character, distant from readers due to his illness and portrayed only in relation to his pride and weakness. The dynamic characters in this text are those who learn moral lessons.
In the novel, descriptions of the natural setting are interspersed throughout dialogue. The authors use especially descriptive language to portray the hardship of burying Roy Luther. With words such as “dew wet,” “drowned,” “dampness,” and “smudgy darkness” (71), the authors use sensory imagery and alliteration to emphasize the visceral experience of two children having to carry their father up a mountain to bury him. The setting becomes animated and lively like a character, and the presence of the raven further personifies the land, as if it is communicating and aware of the Luther children’s plight. At the end of the section, a cloud’s shadow symbolizes the potential hardships to come.
This section also further explores Mary Call and Romey’s relationship. While Mary Call has to continually hide her emotions and plan to save her family and keep them together, 10-year-old Romey also faces situations that force him to mature. Unlike Mary Call, Romey is unable to stifle his emotions, although he tries to be a “man.” He acts as a foil to Mary Call in that her qualities are held in sharper relief—through Romey, the Cleavers portray Mary Call’s character, her thought processes, her aloneness, and the daunting situations that the family has to face. Romey expresses the fears that Mary Call is unable to or does not want to. He also offers up good ideas on his own and allows Mary Call to work through problems aloud. When Mary Call is alone, her family’s situation becomes harder to bear. In Chapter 7, Mary Call more explicitly doubts herself when she is alone and talking to God. Throughout the novel, Mary Call’s relationship with God is not explicitly detailed but is present in hard emotional times as an internal dialogue. In Chapter 7, her dialogue with God is especially bitter and self-critical, demonstrating a change in her usual determined confidence.
Patriarchal gender roles are ingrained in the novel. Romey has internalized views of what it means to be a man in his society, including physical strength and being a financial provider. Unlike Romey, Mary Call never alludes to her own gender. She never sees her gender as a hindrance or a source of guidance; she takes on the role of the family’s head without second thought. Only Kiser mentions a gendered expectation for Mary Call to be softer. The Cleavers therefore deconstruct patriarchal expectations throughout the text.
Through Mary’s work and perseverance, the Cleavers underscore a moral about education. Mary Call’s emphasis is placed on the value of education; she fears being the stereotypical “happy pappy”; she is driven by a fear of ignorance, loneliness, and separation from her family. She does not want the outside world to have reason to judge her family, nor does she want to find reason to judge herself. Mary Call is not ashamed of her poverty; in fact, she is proud of the ways the family keeps itself clean and together using the resources they have. The authors pepper the novel with allusions to their poverty, but it is never belabored. The authors suggest that the worst state in the world is not poverty but ignorance.
