Cold+Sassy+3

Character List
Comes to the Tweedy residence to talk to Will after his near death experience. He tells Will how the Methodist Church got started and asked him if he had ever considered life in the ministry. Main character in the novel. So far, has been run over by a train and has lived. He is 12 years old and his grandmother has just past away. One of the women who came to see the family after Will's near death experience. One of the men who came to see the family after Will's near death experience. One of the women who came to see the family after Will's near death experience. Will Tweedy's mother and the daughter of Grandpa Blakeslee. One of the men who came to see the family after Will's near death experience. He He is the stepbrother to Grandma. One of the men who came to see the family after Will's near death experience. One of the men who came to see the family after Will's near death experience. Comes to check on Will after the train incident. His wife has died only a short while ago and he has eloped with the young Ms. Love. Worked as a milliner at Mr. Blakeslee's store. Son marries him after his wife passes and is seen as a schemer after all his money. A black man, husband to the Tweedy family's cook. He works in Mill town. Not much is said about him. He informs Blakeslee and Miss Love to Will's getting run over by a train. Will Tweedy's aunt who is only 6 years older than him. She is friary and set in her ways. She is strong willed and bullheaded.
 * Methodist Preacher**
 * Will Tweedy**
 * Miss Lizzie Mae Tuttle**
 * Cudn Hopwell Stump**
 * Cudn Agnes**
 * Mama a.k.a Mary Willis**
 * Mr. Gordy**
 * Mr. Cratic Flournoy**
 * Toddy Hughes**
 * Dr. Slaughter**
 * Grandpa Blakeslee**
 * Miss Love**
 * Loomis**
 * Mr. Jimmy Dan Allsu**
 * Aunt Loma**

Will Tweedy's sister. Not much is said about her. A very lazy man who Aunt Loma married to spite her father.
 * Mary Toy**
 * Uncle Camp.**

Chapter 15

 * Summary**

In this chapter we find the Tweedy house filled with people. They had come to see and talk to the family after Will's near death experience. They all have brought food and gifts go give to the family. They, also, brought their stories of tragedy and of the good Lord's mercy. By the time it was over we see Grandpa's return.

Tweedy residence -It was later in the evening and the air was filled with joy and relief.
 * Setting**

Will's near death experience and the joy it brings was sided only by more stories of God's mercy. “Son, John Wesley got saved from a fire as a boy and he started the Methodist Church. Now you been spared, Will. Miraculously spared. Maybe the Lord's got special plans for you, too like preachin' the gospel.” Methodist Preacher p.g. 90
 * Theme**
 * Quotes**

“God sure better get to work if He's got in mind to make a preacher out of Will Tweedy.” Miss Lizzie Tuttle p.g. 90

“Is that cyclone why the woods around here are full of uprooted pine stumps” Methodist Preacher p.g. 91

“I just heard, Mary Willis. I been out in the country all day. I wanted to make sure Will's all right.” Dr. Slaughter p.g. 93

“Gosh a'mighty! If'n I'd a-knowed y'all had made up a party for us, we'd a-got here sooner!” Grandpa Blakeslee p.g. 93

"If you were the last man on Earth, Mr. Clayton McAllister, I wouldn't even go a mile with you. Even if I was free to." - Miss Love p.g. 142

Chapter 16

 * Summary**

At the end of chapter 15 we saw the arrival of Grandpa back with Mrs. Love as his wife. In this chapter Will and Grandpa Blakeslee discuss how they viewed the accident and some biblical truths. They soon realize they had left Miss Love to deal with all the gossipers and soon rejoin the group. Grandpa decided to pray. He was affectionate to both Grandma and Miss Love. The chapter ends with Will reasoning with himself that he had done everything on purpose to take the her off his grandpa.


 * Setting**

The Tweedy residence -The air was a little more tense with the arrival of Grandpa and Miss Love.


 * Themes**

The eloping of Miss Love and Grandpa Blakeslee. They return to the house knowing everyone was there to announce everything formally. We also have an undertone of questioning God's purpose that seeps between Blakeslee and Will.


 * Quotes**

“By golly, I'm shore glad to see you folks!” Grandpa p.g. 95

“Mary Toy, where you at, girl? Will Tweedy?” Grandpa p.g. 95

“Cudn Temp took Mary Toy out to the country after the parade yesterday, Pa. And Will, h-he...” Mama p.g. 96

“Doggit, let'm have his pie.” Grandpa p.g. 96

“Grandpa, you think I'm alive tonight cause it was God's will?” Will Tweedy p.g. 97

“Life bullies us, Son, but God don't. Grandpa p.g. 97

“Gosh a'mighty, pore Miss Love! You reckon they've et her up alive in there?” Grandpa p.g. 99

Chapter 17
That night, Will dreams that Lightfoot is calling to him from the railroad tracks. She removes her clothes and Will sees that a train is going to hit her. He tries to call out to her but cannot, and the train runs over her. Will also dreams that he is running from a train, but Loma stands in his way and insists that he call her Aunt Loma or she won't move. Will wakes up and remembers Aunt Loma's twelfth birthday. She and Will, who is only six years her junior, played together like sister and brother until she turned twelve and demanded that Will call her Aunt Loma. Will refused, and Loma broke all of his lead soldiers. Since that day, Will and Loma have hated each other. Will gets furious with Aunt Loma all over again as he remembers that day. He thinks of other people he dislikes, including Hosie Roach and his paternal grandfather. Hoyt's father, Grandpa Tweedy, is a lazy, pious farmer who spends all day sitting on his front porch giving lectures about religion and swatting flies for his pet hen to pick up. Will hates Grandpa Tweedy mostly because Tweedy prohibited Will from fishing on Sundays.

Characters:
Will- The book's narrator and protagonist. He is 14 years old, growing up in Cold Sassy, Georgia. Although he comes from a conventional family, he is free spirited and often feels compelled to defy the rules governing his life. After his grandmother's death and his grandfather's second marriage, he begins to grapple with issues of love and death, and his perspective on life changes. Lightfoot- A pretty and studious girl from Mill Town. She is the object of Will's affections. Although she marries Hosie Roach, she feels affection for Will and leaves him with difficulty. Aunt Loma- Mary Willis's younger sister. She is a few years older than Will. She is a bossy, jealous, and often petulant young woman. She dreams of being a writer or an actress and chafes against her marriage to the useless Campbell Williams. Hosie Roach- He is 21 years old from Mill Town who attends Will's school despite his advanced age. Although Will considers him his enemy, he shows great promise and the townspeople of Cold Sassy see big things in his future. Grandpa Tweedy- He is a lazy, pious farmer who spends all day sitting on his front porch giving lectures about religion and swatting flies for his pet hen to pick up.

Chapter 18
Will forgets about the date he made with Lightfoot. The newspaper reporter interviews him about his brush with death. Despite everyone's kindness to Miss Love after Rucker's prayer, no one calls on the newlyweds the next day. Mary Willis is livid when she finds that Miss Love is cleaning the house and Rucker wants his daughters to go through Mattie Lou's belongings. Will goes to see if he can help Miss Love around the house. When he arrives, Miss Love has taken a break to play the piano. She is playing boisterous dance music, and her dress has fallen low across her chest. Will, agog, watches Miss Love's breasts bounce for a moment before announcing his presence. To his shock, Will sees that Miss Love has written down the day of her marriage to Rucker in the Bible that belongs to Mattie Lou's family. After looking at Miss Love's arrangement of the house, Will sees that she has her own bedroom and thinks he was right that Rucker married her so she would keep house for him. Rucker arrives, and after lunch Miss Love persuades him to let her give him a haircut and shave off his wild beard. After the haircut, Will can hardly believe how young and distinguished his grandfather looks.

Characters:
Will- The book's narrator and protagonist. He is 14 years old, growing up in Cold Sassy, Georgia. Although he comes from a conventional family, he is free spirited and often feels compelled to defy the rules governing his life. After his grandmother's death and his grandfather's second marriage, he begins to grapple with issues of love and death, and his perspective on life changes. Miss Love- She is a pretty, affectionate, and strong-willed woman. She has succeeded despite a troubled childhood. In addition to charm and a sense of humor, she possesses a business acumen that wins her an important role in running Rucker's store. She lives her life cheerfully and bravely, ignoring or defying the expectations of the close-minded and suspicious inhabitants of Cold Sassy. Mary Willis- She is conventional and nervous, but kind. The death of her mother deeply affects her. She mourns for a long time and finds it difficult to forgive her father for remarrying so quickly, which she sees as a betrayal of her mother's memory. Rucker- Will's maternal grandfather. He is a brash, humorous, and domineering man who owns the general store in Cold Sassy. He is passionately Southern, but he has no use for the gossip and hypocrisy of Cold Sassy's small-town ways, and he acts according to his own code of decent conduct, not the town's. Mattie Lou- Will's grandmother and Rucker's first wife. She dies three weeks before the book begins. She was an excellent gardener and a devoted caretaker for the sick. The people of Cold Sassy speak reverently of her, and Rucker never forgets her companionship and goodwill.

Chapter 19
Will and Rucker look even more alike after Miss Love shaves off Rucker's beard. After Rucker goes back to the store, Will looks around the house. In Miss Love's room, he finds a poster advertising a women's suffrage meeting. Miss Love and Aunt Carrie are the only people in Cold Sassy who openly support women's right to vote. Will suddenly asks Miss Love why she married his grandfather. Hearing himself ask her such a question, Will is aghast at his own impudence.

Chapter 20
In this chapter, Miss Love begins to explain why she married Will's grandfather. Will repeatedly tells her that she does not have to tell him and that he did not mean to blurt it out. She continues to tell him that his grandfather visited her in the store one day and bluntly asks her to marry him. At first she is skeptical and jokes about it, only to find out that he was serious. He told her that it would be nothing more than a business arrangement. She would get the house, the furniture, and $200 in exchange for her working for him around the house. She eventually agrees to these conditions. She goes on to ask Will if it was bad to marry for worldly goods. He says not to him. She mentions that she thought she was never going to marry and never have a house of her own. At the end of the chapter, Will sees a Texan approach his grandfather's house.

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In this chapter, a cowboy enter Will's grandfather's house. He barges in without so much as a knock. He immediately went over to her and kissed her hands and then proceeded to grab her and kiss her on the lips. While this is occurring, Miss Effie Belle ventures over to the grandfather's house. She brought a coconut cake as a pretext to see what the cowboy is here for. Will tries to stop her, but she does notice the kiss that occurs between the cowboy and Miss Love. She leaves vacates the premises with the cake in hand. When will reenters, Miss Love proceeds to tell the cowboy off. She tells him that she is married.======

Characters:

Will- The book's narrator and protagonist. He is 14 years old. He is free spirited and grew up in Cold Sassy, Georgia. Miss Love- She is a pretty, affectionate, and strong-willed woman. Rucker- Will's maternal grandfather. He is a brash, humorous, and domineering man who owns the general store in Cold Sassy.

**Quotes:**
"When Miss Love came into my life, Aunt Loma was still my prime hate, and getting even with her was still my prime goal." Will, pg. 105. Will's life long dislike of his aunt disposes him to accept Miss Love more readily than the rest of the family.

The Cold Sassy Tree:
The Cold Sassy tree gives the novel its title and the town its name, and it symbolizes a number of concepts and characters. The tree stands for Rucker's and Miss Love's strength and composure, and the word sassy might refer to their sassy flouting of the town's social conventions. The tree also symbolizes an older era in the town's history. The town takes its name from the trees, and the shrinking sassafras grove parallels the town's bittersweet progress. When settlers first came to Cold Sassy there was a whole grove of sassafras trees. To make room for the new railroad, all but one tree was cut down. At the end of the novel, the last tree is fell so that the tracks can be widened, and the townspeople want to change the name of the town to something more modern. With this eradication of the sassafras trees over time, the town grows more modern and distances itself more from its heritage.

Valentine's Day:
Miss Love Simpson teaches Rucker and Will about love, so it is fitting that her birthday falls on Valentine's Day. Her name also fits her loving, affectionate nature. Valentine's Day comes to symbolize not only Love's sweet nature but also the love shared by Rucker and Miss Love, and the possibility of such love despite social stigmas.

Cold Sassy:
Cold Sassy is the town in Georgia where the story takes place. It is named for a grove of Sassafras trees that used to be there, but town authorities would like to change its name.

Mill Town:
Mill Town is the place where the cotton mill is and the mill workers live.

Blind Tillie Trestle:
Blind Tillie Trestle is the place where Will gets run over by a train.

Blind Tillie Creek:
Blind Tillie Creek is a place where Will goes.....

The Struggle to Understand Death:
The demise of close relatives prompts Will to question the meaning of life and the justness of God. Will himself almost dies, a brush with mortality that intensifies his desire to understand God. He longs to know whether God interferes in the lives of individual people.

The Dawning of the Modern Era:
Modern technology floods the slow, Southern town of Cold Sassy. The novel chronicles a time when people's lives were revolutionized by a host of new conveniences. Its first passages introduce such innovative technology as Will comments on the plumbing and telephones that are making their way into every home.

**(Katzenjammer Kids)**
This comic, that appeared in many Sunday newspapers, was based on the German children's book, //The Katzenjammer Kids,// which was in the 1860's. Rudolph Dirks brought life to “The Katzies”, as they were called, in 1897. In the book, //Cold Sassy Tree,// the comic is mentioned by Will Tweedy, our main character and narrator. He tells us how he waits to see what's happening with “The Katzies” every Monday morning. He mentions that they are in the Sunday paper but that his father believes it would be against there religion to read the comics during the Sabbath Day.

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Vaudeville was a hodgepodge of entertainment. It would have animal charmers, magicians, dancers, comedians, musicians, acrobats, impersonators, and short scenes from plays. This entertainment lasted form the 1880s to the 1930s. They were played in theaters on stage. They were popular until the cinema and television.======

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Vaudeville was considered to be a polite entertainment. All of the acts had to be non-offensive to men, women, and children alike. Any profane language was expelled from the act. Anyone that violated these rules faced the same fate. There were three main levels of the entertainment. Those just starting out, "medium time" or people with moderate wages and only with a couple of performances a day, and the "big time" where they could make thousands of dollars a week. Those that went to the big time, were looking to go to the Palace Theater in New York City. The death of Vaudeville Entertainment was considered when the the New York City's Palace switched to exclusive cinema showing in 1932.======

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In Cold Sassy Tree, an entertainment group visited Cold Sassy when Aunt Loma and Mary Willis were younger. Aunt Loma was offered a chance to join a group of entertainers. She would have toured with the group across the country as an actress. Her father forbade it and Aunt Loma held a grudge because of it.======

Railroads in the 1800's and 1900s
 In the beginning of the 1800s, railroads were in their infant stage. People were still trying to figure out efficient ways to transport passengers over distances. People tried a little bit of everything. They tried horse driven trains, sail powered trains, and steam powered trains. The horse driven trains had some success, until the steam powered trains overtook them. It took them a while to make an efficient steam powered train. By the 1870s, most of the major railroad track was in place in Europe. In 1895, the first electric powered locomotives was in use in Baltimore. Trains were used to transport goods and people across the United States. Railroads were considered a major developer of small towns. In the book Cold Sassy Tree, Will Tweety had a disturbing encounter with a train. He was out on a stroll when an idea popped in his head. He decided to climb a trestle and enjoy the view from up there. Later, a train started to appear that caused will to have to run for his life. He was not going to make it so he flattened himself on the railroad ties, leaving himself enough clearance to not be squashed by the train. He was burnt, but not seriously, by the fires from the locomotive.

media type="custom" key="3277920" media type="custom" key="3277926" From Right to Left 69Workman. [Online image] Available http://www.nps.gov/gosp/index.htm February 26, 2009 Railroads of the United States in 1918. [Online image] Available http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/16960 February 26, 2009

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During the Progressive Era, the people in all of the countries were still war-torn by World War 1. They were glad that it was over. During this time they made many new inventions. One of the most widely used inventions of this time is the automobile:======