A Thousand Acres: Symbols

Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.

Mud

Mud symbolizes transition in A Thousand Acres. The land on which the Cook farm sits was once covered by water until a trio of foresighted young people drained it, turning mud into a fortune. It took twenty-five years to lay the tiles and dig the wells and cisterns that turned the farm into a successful business. One of Ginny’s earliest memories was when Harold Clark had an accident in the mud that pinned him beneath his truck. Ginny was only seven, and her father made her offer Harold some whiskey to ease his pain as he was trapped in the ooze. The muddy water of the quarry hides the dangerous trash beneath, just as the years hide Ginny’s memories. In Ginny’s last visit to the old barn, she sees farm equipment covered in mud, objects that carry the weight of the past in their messy fragments and crusty filth. Mud is the basis of the farm, its foundation, but it also represents getting stuck, trapped, or covered.

The Monopoly Games

The Monopoly tournament symbolizes fun, comradery, laughter, and music. For two weeks, Pete and Rose, Ty and Ginny, and Jess gather in the evenings to enjoy the games and the conversation that happens during them. Readers are along for the ride amid details about hotels and Boardwalk, rents and strategies, often double entendre about winning, losing, and keeping score. The tokens reveal the characters’ personalities, including Jess the race car, Rose the shoe, and Ginny the thimble. The five tell stories during the games, solidifying into something that looks like family. The games give them a reason to be together besides the farm or Larry. However, they end with Rose’s anger over Caroline’s marriage, as she dumps the whole board into her husband’s lap.

The Sausages

The poisoned sausages symbolize Ginny’s willingness to kill out of jealousy and anger. In Chapter 39, the precision with which she researches, plans, and prepares them provides her with satisfaction and pleasure. The sausages are a perfect symbol, not only because they are made from hogs but also because Jess and the girls won’t eat them by mistake. They target only Rose because only she will savor them, killed by her appetite and desire. The wild hemlock Ginny uses is the opposite of the wild roses that surround her and Jess as they kiss and make love. When Ty shows up at the restaurant in St. Paul, Ginny wonders if Rose ate the sausages, but they are still safely tucked in the cellar under the house, buried like the bloody clothing from Ginny’s last miscarriage. When Ginny retrieves the sausages, it is sacramental. She carries them home and disposes of them into her garbage disposal. As she washes them down with water, she washes her soul of the sins of her past. Destroying the sausages brings her peace. Ginny is grateful she didn’t kill her sister, but she’s proud of herself for having the capacity to do so.

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