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The ghosts are drawn to Kayla’s singing, and while smiling with relief, they say home. These ghosts are depicted as lingering due to the cruel trauma they endured, their suffering left unaddressed, and prevents them from making it to home, or heaven. Kayla's singing is significant as it serves as a recognition of these ghosts and their stories, allowing them to feel relieved that their story is not forgotten. It offers the closest thing to heaven, for these ghosts. In a way, this recognition and remembrance become a form of solace. However, this poignant scene also carries a sense of sadness and irony. It underscores the enduring effects of injustice and suffering, as these ghosts will never reach heaven, connecting to the irony archetype. The story ends with the grim reality that the extreme injustices in the world may never be reversed and have displaced many from their ultimate home, heaven.

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“Once we’re on our feet we’ll get to it, but I had so envisioned it that when it thought about us going home, I only saw that place…big whitewashed, carpeted rooms, space, anonymity, and quiet” (196).

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“Once we’re on our feet we’ll get to it, but I had so envisioned it that when it thought about us going home, I only saw that place…big whitewashed, carpeted rooms, space, anonymity, and quiet” (196).

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Leonie's description of her dream home provides insights into her desires and priorities. Her vision of quietness highlights her desire for a life without her kids, as she views them as a burden. She dreams of her home having "big whitewashed" carpeted rooms, with the use of white to signify purity and peacefulness but also suggesting the potential emptiness behind her pursuit of this dream. The inclusion of "anonymity" in her dream signifies her desire to escape the roles and responsibilities tied to her family, which would disconnect her from her identity as a mother and a daughter. While her dream home may appear ideal, in pursuit of this dream, she will sacrifice her family, her gift, and her children to be with Michael, who has been shown to be a negative influence in her life. Her dream home corroborates that her values don't align with her maternal or familial duties, explaining why she is a less caring mother and hasn’t inherited her mother’s gift, which reflects the "Serpent in the Garden" archetype where an initially enticing pursuit reveals its harmful consequences.

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“Where my family lived…it’s a wall. It’s hard floor, wood. Then concrete. No opening. No heartbeat. No air” (183).

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“Where my family lived…it’s a wall. It’s hard floor, wood. Then concrete. No opening. No heartbeat. No air” (183).

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Richie recalls what he remembers from his family’s home. The ellipsis in his description signals his trouble in recalling anything of meaning, hinting at his feeling of emotional disconnection. Richie's description of the house is stark and unemotional, mentioning only "hard floor, wood, then concrete." His description is lifeless, and Richie's words emphasize its lack of character and uniqueness. He doesn't mention family members, comfy furniture, or personal spaces, making it seem like the house wasn't much of a home. He describes it as having "No opening. No heartbeat. No air," further corroborating its lifelessness. The absence of air symbolizes the suffocating atmosphere in the house, where Richie feels unsupported. The words "no opening" and "no heartbeat" add to the sense of confinement and disconnection, making it clear that Richie feels trapped and unsupported there. Even though Richie lived in this house with his family, he couldn't find comfort or a sense of belonging typically associated with a home. Instead, he discovered a sense of home in Parchman, despite its harshness, because of the bond he shared with Pop. Richie’s experience emphasizes that home isn't just a physical space but a place where someone feels safe, supported, and connected.

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“I wonder if the reason I couldn’t leave Parchman before Jojo came was because it was a sort of home to me: terrible and formative as the iron leach that chains dogs, that dives them to bark hysterically and run in circles and burrow to the roots of the grass, to savage smaller animals, to kill the living things they can reach.” (190-191)

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“I wonder if the reason I couldn’t leave Parchman before Jojo came was because it was a sort of home to me: terrible and formative as the iron leach that chains dogs, that dives them to bark hysterically and run in circles and burrow to the roots of the grass, to savage smaller animals, to kill the living things they can reach.” (190-191)

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“Home ain’t always about a place… Home is about the earth. Whether the earth opens up to you. Whether it pulls you so close the space between you and it melts and y’all one and it beats like your heart. Same time.” (182-183)

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“Home ain’t always about a place… Home is about the earth. Whether the earth opens up to you. Whether it pulls you so close the space between you and it melts and y’all one and it beats like your heart. Same time.” (182-183)

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"I know it's Pop who wrote the note, Pop who gathered the feather, the tooth, the rock, who sewed the leather pouch, who says to me: Keep this close" (71)

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"I know it's Pop who wrote the note, Pop who gathered the feather, the tooth, the rock, who sewed the leather pouch, who says to me: Keep this close" (71)

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“...so I could lie like this forever, feeling the fine hair on his arm, my kids silenced, not even there, his fingers on my arm drawing circles and lines that I decipher, him writing his name on me, claiming me. The world is a tangle of jewels and gold spinning and throwing off sparks. I’m already home.” (153)

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“...so I could lie like this forever, feeling the fine hair on his arm, my kids silenced, not even there, his fingers on my arm drawing circles and lines that I decipher, him writing his name on me, claiming me. The world is a tangle of jewels and gold spinning and throwing off sparks. I’m already home.” (153)

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“She leans forward and rubs at her eyes, smooths her hair back from her face so for a second I see Pop, his flat forehead, his nose, his cheeks… and then Leonie frowns, and her fair flops back over her forehead, and she’s just Leonie, and Kayla whimpers again, and I want to go home.” (124)

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“She leans forward and rubs at her eyes, smooths her hair back from her face so for a second I see Pop, his flat forehead, his nose, his cheeks… and then Leonie frowns, and her fair flops back over her forehead, and she’s just Leonie, and Kayla whimpers again, and I want to go home.” (124)

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“I don’t know why I stayed in that place, why every time I got to the edge of the young stand, to the place where pines reached taller, rounded and darkened, draped with a web of green thorny vines, I turned and walked back” (134).

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“I don’t know why I stayed in that place, why every time I got to the edge of the young stand, to the place where pines reached taller, rounded and darkened, draped with a web of green thorny vines, I turned and walked back” (134).

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Richie describes himself as having a lingering attachment to Parchman and always returning when trying to walk away. It's notable that in his description, there's no mention of armed guards or dogs, which means that there is nothing physically holding him back. The phrase, "I don't know why I stayed in that place," highlights that despite it being a nightmarish place, he feels strangely drawn to it. The depiction of the trees growing taller and darker signifies his fear as he approaches the outside world, associating it with an intimidating and unknown area that makes him feel small which is why he remains within the confines of Parchman, the only place he truly knows and has felt comfort, particularly through his connection with Pop. The phrase "draped with a web" can be metaphorical, suggesting that Richie feels trapped, much like insects trapped in a spider's web, unable to thrive or escape his situation. For Richie, home is a place that he feels an inexplicable attachment to, which is Parchman. The evocative descriptions of nature in his narrative make it clear that Parchman is the only place Richie can truly call home, which is why he is so drawn to it.

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“I want to jump out of the car with Kayla, and I want to outrun that boy and his dog and that fake gun, and I want to walk us all the way home” (80).

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“I want to jump out of the car with Kayla, and I want to outrun that boy and his dog and that fake gun, and I want to walk us all the way home” (80).

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While on the car trip to pick up Michael, Jojo expresses a strong wish to flee from the car with Kayla, and the word "jump" emphasizes the urgency of their escape. This choice of language underscores Jojo's motivation to leave a situation where he feels powerless and incapable of protecting Kayla. Jojo's desire to "outrun" the boy, the dog, and the fake gun highlights his perception of a threatening environment. These elements, which make Jojo feel at risk, draw a parallel between his situation and Richie’s situation in Parchman. This parallel is Jojo connecting his and Kayla’s situation to prisoners in Parchman, which, although dramatic, shows how he feels scared and like a prisoner while being with Leonie on her drug run. The wish to "walk us all the way home" adds an element of distance and challenge to the escape, evoking the concept of an oasis, typically seen as a distant, secure refuge. The “home” he is referring to is Pop’s home because Jojo trusts Pop to take care of both of them more than Leonie. Jojo’s priority is to protect Kayla, which is why he wants to escape from Leonie, as she could put Kayla and him in danger due to her negligence as a mother. This reinforces Jojo's perception of home as a sanctuary, a place where he and Kayla can find support and escape the dangers in their Parchman-like situation. In many ways, it echoes the archetype found in "Brave New World," where Jojo acknowledges the bleakness of their current environment and his inability to shield Kayla, which propels him to want to seek refuge in the “oasis” of Pop's home.

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"Pop built our house himself, narrow in the front and long, close to the road so he could leave the rest of the property wooded" (2).

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"Pop built our house himself, narrow in the front and long, close to the road so he could leave the rest of the property wooded" (2).

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Jojo recognizes that Pop built the house by himself. Jojo connects Pop's hard labor with the integrity of the house. He feels a sense of pride in the house and believes that it takes a man to build his home. Jojo is connecting the idea of home with Pop, corroborating their strong bond. Pop is the helping hand of the family, always fixing everyone else's problems, and this house is a direct outcome of his providing for the family. Home for Jojo is the foundation of the family, which is emblematic of the home motif.