A Thousand Acres

Following Howard’s outburst at the church supper, Jess feels lost and realizes he has nowhere to go. Ginny does not tell him or Rose about her realization regarding Larry’s sexual abuse.

One day, Harold decides “to side-dress his corn” to get a little extra yield (231). As he is doing it, some of the machinery looks clogged, so he goes to fix it. However, he bumped a hose in the process which sprayed him in the face with “anhydrous ammonia.” Because he was not wearing eye goggles, it got in his eyes. He stumbles over to the water tank to wash his eyes out, but the tank is empty. Exhausted and in pain, he collapses until a neighbor finds him and takes him home, where he can wash his eyes. Loren then takes Harold to the hospital. While all this was happening, Jess was on a run. Harold goes blind from the accident. When Ty tells Ginny about Harold’s accident, he gets frustrated that she is not more upset. He leaves, unable to understand why she is being so reasonable and calm about the devastating accident.

When Ginny goes to tell Rose, she is surprised by her sister’s callousness. Rose says she does not care if Larry and Harold suffer. Rose reveals that she hates Larry acting as if he has a mental health condition because it means he will never have to take responsibility for his actions.

Linda brings Jess in from his run, and they tell him about the accident. While Rose feels for Jess, she encourages him not to soften his resolve toward Howard just because of the accident. She says he must get Harold to respect him or else he will continue to humiliate him publicly.

Rose, Ginny, Pete, and Jess keep their distance from Harold, not visiting him at the hospital or home. Ty and Ginny continue to be cool toward each other. One day, Ken LaSalle, the family’s lawyer, comes to the farm to serve Ginny and Ty with legal papers. Caroline and Larry are suing Ty, Ginny, Pete, and Rose to get the farm back. Ken tells her to get a lawyer, and that he does not think she has treated her father right throughout this process. Ginny reminds him that she never asked for the farm.

Ginny reminisces about when Caroline was 14 and in the school play. Caroline assumed Larry would not like her being in the play, so Ginny covered for her and picked her up from rehearsals. She would sometimes go to watch Caroline and discovered that Caroline was a terrible actor. Ginny assumed her performance would be a disaster.

On the day of the play, Caroline showed no nerves. When the play began, she took energy from the audience and gave an incredible performance. This continued through her acting career: She was terrible at rehearsals, but wonderful at performing. She never allowed Ginny to invite Larry.

Larry is attempting to get the farm back by claiming that his daughters and their husbands have mismanaged and abused it. Ginny brings the papers inside and then calls Caroline. Caroline tells her she cannot discuss the suit with her because she is one of the parties involved in it. Caroline reveals that she only cares about the fact that they let Larry out into the storm alone. She heard what happened from Ty and Larry, and Ginny is surprised her husband has talked to her. Ginny tells Caroline that she and Rose raised her and did everything for her, but Caroline reminds her that that is not the issue and that she did not—and does not—need to be saved from Larry. She has meetings to attend so she hangs up.

Ginny is overwhelmed and feels sick, so she drives down to the quarry. It is known as a popular swimming ground, but when she gets there, the water is murky and the grass is overgrown. She decides to walk around. As she walks, she notices that Pete is also at the quarry. She goes to talk to him and tells him that one of Ty’s classmates drove his car into the quarry. She also tells him that she came to the quarry to get away from the lawsuit and fills him in. He does not seem to be surprised at the turn of events.

They walk together, and Pete finally asks Ginny what she thinks Rose wants. Ginny says he should know because Rose is so straightforward, which Pete disagrees with. Pete tells her that sometimes he wants to hurt people for no reason at all. Ginny says it makes sense if you have been hurt. Ginny tries to calm him down, saying that Jess would say change is a good thing. At the mention of Jess’s name, Pete acts a little oddly but says he likes him.

As they go to leave, Pete says he wanted to stop at the quarry because it is such an odd place. A snake runs across their path, but Pete does not react.

Ty is working non-stop on the new hog buildings. He has already paid some of the loan back but will pay the rest of it after the hogs are sent for slaughter. After working all weekend, Ty comes in and hands Ginny the bloodied clothing and sheets that she had buried after her pregnancy loss. He discovered them while working on the new building and tells her they will need to talk about this. Ginny is not embarrassed, only annoyed that she did not think to move the clothes earlier. She imagines how old her child would have been if she had been able to carry it to full term. She thinks that hypothetically she could still have a child but realizes her relationship with Ty is no longer in a good place because his loyalties are with Larry and the farm.

It turns out that Ty has been paying the workers “triple time” so they can finish the buildings. Later, when he comes to bed, he confronts her about the pregnancy loss, revealing that he has known about the ones that she has kept secret from him. He reveals that Ginny needs to stand up to Rose, and Ginny reminds him that they are not plotting against him or anybody else.

Ginny gets upset about the fact that Ty decided they would not try for children anymore, explaining that there were things they could do—like check the water supply—to have a baby. Ty responds that he is careful and follows directions, which enrages Ginny. The two continue to argue, Ginny saying she feels like she has woken from a dream and is now determined to have her life change, while Ty argues he has woken up from a nightmare and everything he has worked hard for is disappearing. He accuses her and Rose of making the situation with Larry worse by making it a big deal. Before he goes to sleep, he tells Ginny that if she wanted a job in town, she could have told him. She responds that that is not what she wants, but he is already asleep.

Ginny sneaks out of bed to go see Jess. He comes to the window, and they talk. Ginny tells him she loves him. He responds with remorse, and an embarrassed Ginny leaves before he can come outside to talk to her.

The next morning, Ginny wakes up early to cook breakfast. Soon Marv Carson and Ken LaSalle come out to talk to Ty. Shortly afterward, all the workers leave. They have forced him to halt work on the buildings because of the lawsuit. Ginny views these events as their ultimate failure as a couple.

Henry Dodge, the minister, comes to visit. As he sits to have coffee with Ginny, he tries to forge peace between her and Larry, reminding her that “[f]amilies are better together. Working together” (266). Ginny is reluctant and mainly asks him to tell her what people are saying about her in town, but he refuses.

After Henry leaves, Ginny is annoyed that she does not know what people are saying about the family, so she goes into town to see for herself. She goes to various stores, gathering information and sensing that people do not think favorably of her. At the fabric store, she sees Caroline, Loren, and Larry come in. Ginny hides in a dressing room and listens to them shop. Larry asks to sit down with Caroline, and he begins telling her stories about her childhood. He describes a brown velveteen jacket she had and tells her she liked to drop things down the drainage well covers. Caroline tells him they need to talk to Ginny and Rose, but Larry refuses, saying they are jealous and that Caroline is enough for him.

After they leave, Ginny goes home and stops at Rose’s house. She asks Rose about her childhood jacket, and Rose says it was a brown velveteen jacket. Ginny reveals that she saw Larry and Caroline and that he was so affectionate with Caroline that it made her feel ill. Rose then tells her to “say it,” and Ginny reveals that Larry sexually assaulted her. Rose does not respond.