Lily and Rosaleen stand across the street from the pink house,
watching August work with the bees. Nervously, they go to the door. Lily and Rosaleen
are greeted by August's sisters, June and May. Inside the house, Lily notices
that all the furniture is polished; she smells a beeswax candle that has the same
scent as the furniture. When Lily meets August, she tells her that she and Rosaleen
have run away from home and have no where to go. When August asks if Rosaleen
has been beaten, Lily says that she fell down the steps. August tells them that
they can stay until they figure out what they are going to do. When Rosaleen asks
about the sisters' peculiar names, May tells her that their mother loved the spring
and summer. Mays says they used to have another sister named April, but she died.
May begins singing and August tells her to go to her wall and finish her cry.
Lily tells August that her parents are dead. Lily says that she and Rosaleen,
who was the housekeeper, are going to Virginia to find Lily's aunt. August says
that Lily can help her with the bees and Rosaleen can help May with the housework
until they are ready to leave.
Later August shows Lily and Rosaleen where they will be sleeping and shows Lily where she will be working. That night Lily makes Rosaleen promise that she will not tell the Boatwright sisters the truth.
The next morning Lily wakes up early and walks around the property. She discovers a wall with papers stuffed in it. Lily thinks of how peaceful it is here and how she does not want that to change.
The epigraph of Chapter
Four says that bees live in social units comprised of a queen bee and her sterile
daughters. These female bees need male bees only rarely. This statement captures
the strong female presence of the Boatwright residence. The Boatwright sisters
live together and do not require men to help them survive. The sisters are very
successful and have a nice house on a large plot of land.
When Lily enters the house she notices how her body is trembling. She
believes this is her sixth sense and wonders what her body knows that
she does not. This passage foreshadows the sadness that will invade the
house in the coming chapters. Foreshadowing is a technique in which the
writer hints at or gives clues about what will happen later in the plot.
Lily's reaction to the house alerts the reader that something tragic will
occur here. The effect produced by foreshadowing is heightened suspense
in the reader. The reader will remember this moment as the plot progresses
so that even when things seem to be going well for Lily the possibility
for tension lurks.
Clapsaddle, Diane. "TheBestNotes on A Long Way Gone".
TheBestNotes.com.
>.