On page 110 Cecile tells Delphine “We’re trying to break yokes. You’re trying to make one for yourself. If you knew what I know, seen what I’ve seen, you wouldn’t be so quick to pull the plow.”
What does she mean by this?
How could Delphine follow this advice, in light of Cecile’s indifference toward caring for the girls?
What do you think about Delphine’s unspoken response – “I sort of knew what she meant, but someone had to look out for Vonetta and Fern while we were here.”
I think Cecile is telling Delphine not to be so quick to assume responsibilty. Cecile herself doesn’t seem all that responsible. Sure, she has a house and seems to take care of herself but it stops there. Her actions all seems selfish. Delphine sort of understood what her mother was saying but also knows that she is the one accountable for her younger siblings. After all, she promised her father to look out for them.
Do you think Cecile was referring to the yokes and plow in the larger sense of the Black Panthers’ cause? Or even feminism? The trouble with me trying to interpret it that way is that she didn’t really seem that interested in the cause either – just herself and her poetry. But however she may have meant it, she must have known an 11 year old would interpret it literally. And I wonder just who Cecile thought would take the responsibility for the little girls if not Delphine – since Cecile still wasn’t stepping up. She’s a difficult character for me to understand, in many ways.