A Thousand Acres: Full Book Analysis

A Thousand Acres is written in six books. Book One sets the stage. Book Two engages the conflicts between family members. Book Three ratchets up the tension as the family’s private conflicts become public. In Book Four, the conflicts intensify. In Book Five, the family falls apart. Pete dies, Ginny decides to poison Rose, and Ginny leaves Ty. In Book Six, Larry dies, Ty asks for a divorce, Rose dies, and they sell the farm. In typical tragic form, peace and prosperity turn into chaos and ruin, and a family is all but destroyed. Only Pammy and Linda, the next generation, offer hope. Most of the chapters move from past to present. Most begin with a memory Ginny has of her past, a history of the farm or the region, or an analysis of a past event. Then they shift to the novel’s present, which spans several years.

The protagonist of A Thousand Acres is its narrator, Ginny Cook Smith. Ginny changes the most in the novel, and it is her story. Her conflicts with her family permeate the narrative. Her shifting and evolving emotions detail the conflict within herself and steer the tale. Her movement from the darkness of denial to the light of acceptance drives the action. Ginny’s relationship with the farm because of what happened there is, in the end, the one that matters the most, and she drives away from it by choice. Ginny chooses to hold on to her anger to honor her sister and dishonor her father, the only retaliation available to her in light of his death. Ginny’s affair with Jess is a further indication of her metamorphosis from naivety to wisdom and from innocence to guilt.

The antagonist is Larry Cook, at least at first glance. He is a villain with few redeeming qualities other than being an outstanding farmer. Larry is mean and harsh, and he finds fault with everyone and everything, especially Ginny and Rose, who take care of him every day of their lives. When Larry’s abuse of his daughters is revealed, it is no surprise to readers who have picked up on all the clues. However, his lack of remorse is his blackest sin, and his arrogance is his most damning quality. Larry is despicable to everyone in the family except Caroline and Ty, neither of whom are hurt directly by his actions and are therefore not in conflict with him. However, if Larry were the only antagonist, his sudden death would be more of a victory for Ginny. In fact, Rose and Ty play the role of antagonists, too. Rose’s death and Ty’s request for a divorce offer Ginny another level of freedom. She is released from Rose’s anger and Ty’s stoic and stubborn hold, two forces that also trapped and harnessed her.

The event that sets the plot into motion is Larry’s decision to prematurely divide his farm among his daughters, each of whom reacts differently to the idea. A storm intensifies the action. During the power outage caused by the storm, Rose explicitly reveals the childhood abuse she and Ginny suffered at the hands of Larry. Ironically, the storm also causes Harold and the community to turn against Ginny and Rose. Ty takes sides during the storm, too, choosing loyalty to Larry and the farm over his wife. Two sisters fight over one man as the plot twists and turns. Old conflicts not only resurrect but also fuel new ones.

If Larry is indeed the antagonist, then his death would be the climax of the novel, but this is not exactly so. Like Pete, he dies quickly and quietly, his death hardly described at all in Chapter 42. Years pass. Ty asks for a divorce, Rose’s cancer returns, and still, the plot trudges forward. When Ginny decides not to tell Caroline that their father was incestuous, her internal conflict begins to be resolved. When Ginny decides not to take anything from her previous life, she takes another step toward healing and resolution. Finally, when she dumps the poisoned sausages into the garbage disposal and washes them away with fifteen minutes of water, full blast, Ginny feels the burden she’s carried for most of her life being lifted from her heart. This moment of personal triumph is the novel’s climax, the moment when the protagonist finally feels relief.

The Epilogue, then, is the denouement. Readers learn about Ginny’s “regret money” and her real inheritance, solitude, and remorse. The novel does not end with happiness, but at least Ginny has made her peace with her past. She’s left it all behind, all but the anger, represented by a protected black shard of obsidian, which she associates with her father.

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