Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

The author’s introduction to Savannah’s rich history occurs at the Bonaventure Cemetery. Mary Harty packs a wicker basket full of martinis, and they sit on a bench where the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Conrad Aiken is buried. She regales him with stories of the rich and infamous, showing that Savannah’s secret history is colorful, seductive, and enthralling. However, Hansford and Corinne’s visit to the same cemetery is distinctly different. They go at dark, have sex, and then Hansford explains how all he looks forward to in life is his death, when he hopes that Williams will buy him a huge gravestone.

Later, Berendt, Williams, and Minerva visit a graveyard at midnight in the town of Beaufort to participate in a voodoo ritual to commune with Hansford’s spirit and stop him from “workin’ hard against [Williams]” (243). When the author and Minerva visit the Bonaventure Cemetery one last time at the end of the book, they see Hansford’s small grave marker, which has tire marks nearby showing someone had recently driven over it. Ironically, Hansford never did get the large gravestone he expected from Williams. It is during this visit that Minerva, whom Williams refers to as his “very dear friend” (239), states her belief that Williams lied during the trial and really is guilty of murder.

These several cemetery visits show a connection between the living and the dead and demonstrate how the past continues to both enrich and haunt the present. When Hansford visits the cemetery with Corinne, he points to the size of the gravestones to show that even after death, Savannah’s set social order continues to dominate.

The agenda for the monthly parties symbolizes Savannah’s strict adherence to rules and tradition. Guests wait outside until four o’clock sharp, when the host opens her doors to begin the party. Guests immediately sit down at one of the twelve tables set out with name cards for exactly 48 guests, who start playing card games. Glasses of water, rounds of cocktails, and food are brought out punctually according to the agenda. This rigid formality is nerve-wracking for the host who must ensure that all goes smoothly. This hyper-awareness of time allows a way for the married women to have a social outlet with friends while still making sure they get home in time to prepare dinner for their husbands. While such a deference to men’s schedules might seem hopelessly outdated anywhere else, it is a perfectly acceptable ritual in Savannah. Berendt finds a way to enter this formalized world and even convinces some of the guests to deviate a little from the agenda as he encourages them to gossip, another acceptable women’s ritual.