A Thousand Acres

Ty, Ginny, Rose, and Pete go to meet with their lawyer, Jean Cartier. Jean asks them lots of questions and concludes that Larry is used to doing what he wants when he wants. They agree with his assessment. He reveals that Caroline paid Larry’s fine for driving under the influence. He additionally explains that he has seen a lot of farm transfers go poorly during his career.

Jean tells them that appearances are important, so they need to be the ideal farmers and farmwives during this process: harvesting the crops and keeping a clean house. He explains that the court date will not be until after the harvest. They leave his office and begin working on keeping up their appearances.

Ginny becomes obsessed with keeping up her perfect appearance and focuses on little else. However, in August, Pete gets drunk and goes to threaten Harold with a gun. He then drives to the quarry and drives his car into the water, drowning. It is unclear if it was an accident. He had a very high blood-alcohol level that should have rendered him unconscious at the time of the accident.

After Ty leaves for work, Ginny sees Rose stumbling down the road. She tells Ginny that Pete has drowned and asks her to go be with the girls. She goes into Rose’s house and picks up where Rose left off making breakfast. As the girls eat, they ask Ginny where their parents are, and she lies, telling them she does not know. She can feel time getting shorter and knows the girl will soon have to learn the truth about Pete’s death. Eventually, Linda tells Ginny that something is wrong, and Ginny tries to reassure her.

Ginny remembers that her mother died when she was at school, and she remembers the sad feeling she felt when her mother’s friends came to get her from the cafeteria to take her home. She remembers that she was expected to be quiet and sit still at home as they planned the funeral. Her father sent the girls back to school quickly after the funeral.

When Rose returns, she is composed and tells the girls what has happened. People soon start arriving to drop off food and share their condolences. People acknowledge that Pete most likely had a drinking problem, but do not talk much about the fact that he was physically abusive to Rose. Rose acts like the ideal widow, which people find appropriate. Caroline and Larry do not attend the funeral. At the funeral, some people express concern for Ty being able to work the entirety of the farm by himself.

After the funeral, Ginny is exhausted and goes to bed. Rose calls her in the middle of the night, waking her, and asks her to come over. Realizing Rose has no one else to talk to, Ginny heads to her house.

When Ginny gets to Rose’s house, Rose is drinking and offers her a drink, encouraging her to drink in honor of Pete. Rose has been cleaning the house and asks Ginny to help her move some furniture so she can clean it. They then go outside to talk.

Rose reveals more about her marriage. She tells Ginny that, after her mastectomy, Pete requested that she wear her nightgown when he was in the room with her. She never thought they would end up living on the farm, but Pete never could get a plan worked out for how they could leave.

Rose then reveals that she has been having an affair with Jess. She has had many lovers, but Jess is the first one she is in love with. She starts giving Ginny lots of details, explaining that Jess is very good at acknowledging parts of her body. She told Pete about her affair on the last day of his life. He responded by saying that he was going to kill Larry and Harold. He additionally revealed that it was he who had emptied Harold’s water tank, thinking it could be a way to sabotage Larry. Rose reveals her anger at how people in town let Larry get away with abusing them and says she feels free not knowing where her father is.

Ginny asks if Rose knows she had sex with Jess, and Rose says she did. Rose reveals that she is very jealous and wouldn’t allow Jess to have a private relationship with Ginny. She reminds Ginny that she has always been selfish. She tells Ginny she can trust her and that she will not hurt her, but Ginny does not believe her. She goes home, uncomfortable at this newly revealed side of Rose.

Despite the trauma of Pete’s death and Rose’s revelation, Ginny feels the most like herself that she has ever felt. She realizes that she truly knows each of her family members and imagines each of them in her head. She is most upset about finally really knowing Rose because she always thought they were more similar than it now appears they are. She thinks about how Rose could have a child with Jess and gets more upset, wishing Rose had never told her. She becomes filled with hatred and obsession every time she sees Rose and Jess together.

Ty struggles to handle all the farm work on his own, especially with the harvest coming in. He tries to hire help but cannot find anyone, and he initially refuses to ask Jess for help. Ty decides to sell some of the sows early to pay some of his debt off.

Rose starts looking around the farm for some kind of poison that will kill Rose. She goes into town to do some research and finally settles on water hemlock. She goes and scavenges some after meticulously researching and planning. She makes pickled liver sausage and sauerkraut, putting the chopped-up water hemlock in the sausage. Only Rose likes liver sausage, so she is not worried about the girls eating it by accident. She drops it off for Rose and leaves, waiting for her sister to die.

Ty prepares for the harvest, trying to decide the perfect day to begin to receive the most money. When he decides to start, everyone on the farm is consumed by the drama of the harvest, and it distracts them from the upcoming court hearing.

At the hearing, Caroline and Frank look out of place because they are dressed so much better than everyone else. Caroline holds Larry’s hand and feels like Rose and Ginny have wronged him. Jean Cartier feels good about their chances going into the hearing.

Larry is called to testify first. On the stand, Larry makes little sense and struggles to answer any of the questions asked of him. He calls out to Caroline and then claims that she is dead and that Ginny and Rose have stolen her body. Rose laughs at him. Caroline eventually comes to take him out of the courtroom, and, as they walk out, Larry recounts stories about Caroline’s childhood. Ginny screams out that those stories are about Rose and herself, but he does not respond.

The trial continues. Caroline testifies. She tries to talk about Larry’s mental health and the fact that he was sent out into the storm, but the judge forbids her. Marv Carson testifies to the fact that while the farm now has debt, they are paying it off, and he feels good about the loan. He emphasizes that the trial is costing everyone money by halting the construction of the hog operation.

Ultimately, the judge rules in favor of Ty, Rose, and Ginny and accuses Caroline of bringing what should have remained private family matters into the courtroom. Caroline is furious following the verdict.

Everyone returns home after the verdict and goes back to work. Ginny begins working on supper and tells Ty when he comes in that they need a new stove. He says it is not the right time to buy one, but that he can grab the one from Larry’s house the next day. Ginny says they should move there now that she has gotten her inheritance legally and can show off. Ty accuses her of showing off too much.

Ginny tells Ty she needs $1,000. He happens to have that much cash on him from collecting rent and gives it to her. Ginny walks out the door, and Ty does not come after her, only yelling, “I gave my life to this place!” (330). Ginny tells him it is his now and drives to St. Paul.