“Only folks down here didn’t call it the Civil War. Everyone under the age of sixty called it the War Between the States, while everyone over sixty called it the War of Northern Aggression, as if somehow the North had baited the South into war over a bad bale of cotton. Everyone, that is, except my family. We called it the Civil War.”

Ethan introduces Gatlin as steeped in the past, a town that refuses to accept the reality of the Civil War or their part in oppressing enslaved people. Gatlin’s townspeople see themselves falsely as victims. In contrast, Ethan suggests that he and his family are not racist. Unlike the other citizens of the town, he and his family “called it the Civil War.”

“Amma had her own way of thinking about things. When she was in one of these moods, my mom used to call it going dark—religion and superstition all mixed up, like it can only be in the South.”

Through Amma, the novel explores Southern Traditions and Supernatural Folklore. Amma’s practice of voodoo sets her apart from the other citizens of Gatlin. Amma “going dark” contrasts with Lena “going Dark” later in the novel, as Amma’s power does not stem from Dark Casters but from her ancestors.

“I didn’t want to end up like my dad, living in the same house, in the same small town I’d grown up in, with the same people who had never dreamed their way out of here.”

Ethan describes his internal conflict at the beginning of the novel and how he feels trapped by the narrow-mindedness of Gatlin. He has greater goals for his life than living in the same house that everyone in his family has lived in for generations. Instead, he wants to leave Gatlin and make a new path for himself. To create a sense of emphasis and rhythm, the text uses repetition (bold added): “I didn’t want to end up like my dad, living in the same house, in the same small town I’d grown up in, with the same people who had never dreamed their way out of here.