34 pages • 1 hour read
Kimberly Willis HoltMy Louisiana Sky
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1998A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Natural World
The natural world is a major motif in My Louisiana Sky. It is one of the defining features of the rural town of Saitter, Tiger’s father is very in touch with nature, and the crux of the novel is brought about by natural forces.
Tiger unabashedly loves her hometown: She “loved Saitter. [She] loved the longleaf pines […] the smell of honeysuckle […] and the way a swim in Saitter Creek cooled [her] skin” (15). Even Magnolia comments on how beautiful the nature in Saitter is when she first arrives. Ultimately, this tie to the natural world is one of the things that makes Tiger feel most connected to Saitter. At the end of the novel, she reminisces about the changes she has undergone over the course of the summer while “look[ing] to the tall pines reaching toward [her] Louisiana sky” (200). Tiger belongs to her hometown and the natural world that surrounds it as much as it belongs to her.
Tiger’s father, too, has a strong connection to the natural world. He learned “how to breathe the rhythm of the earth” (17) from his father, and he uses it to tell time and predict the weather based on subtle signs in nature. Ultimately, this talent earns him acclaim; he is the only one who predicts that the hurricane will hit Saitter, and he manages to save the most important plants at the nursery. Tiger is proud of him for his abilities and his contribution to the notoriety of the town. It is through his connection to the natural world that Lonnie is able to gain recognition for his talents despite his differences.
Finally, the climax of the novel occurs when Hurricane Audrey hits. It is the storm that allows Tiger’s father to prove his worth, and it is the storm that makes Tiger realize just how much she and her mother love each other. Tiger herself recognizes the hurricane’s impact on her life; she muses that “[s]ome days are like […] Hurricane Audrey taking hold of you and spinning you above the pines, making you grow up a little quicker” (200). The natural world is one of the driving forces behind Tiger “growing up” over the course of the novel.
Beauty and Physical Appearances
Physical appearance is a recurring motif throughout My Louisiana Sky. It appears in Corrina’s and Aunt Dorie Kay’s appearances, as well as in the role that Abby Lynn Anders, the prettiest girl in town, plays.
Tiger’s mother, Corrina, is described as beautiful throughout the whole novel. Tiger says that her “long dark hair fell to her shoulders, and her body curved in all the right places” (5). However, she seems to care very little about her physical appearance, swimming in the creek even though she was told not to get her hair wet and neglecting her cleanliness after Granny dies. Because Tiger’s mother is so beautiful and yet cares so little about that fact, she (perhaps unwittingly) sets an example for Tiger that looks are not all that important.
Tiger’s Aunt Dorie Kay is Corrina’s sister, but they do not look much alike. When describing her, Tiger says that she “wasn’t beautiful like Momma” but that “somehow Aunt Dorie Kay’s flat chest and narrow hips appeared stylish in her pretty clothes” (5). Throughout the novel, Tiger talks about how Aunt Dorie Kay wears a lot of makeup but always looks glamorous, and Aunt Dorie Kay herself talks about changing her style when she moved to Baton Rouge. Though her near-obsession with appearances is not the best example to set for a young girl, the fact that Aunt Dorie Kay purposefully changes her appearance to look more conventionally beautiful teaches Tiger that beauty is not inborn; that she can look, dress, and act however she wants in order to become anyone she wants.
Throughout much of the novel, Tiger is jealous of Abby Lynn Anders, the “prettiest girl in Saitter” with “golden curls that bounced when she talked and laughed” (19). Abby is mostly overtly unfriendly towards Tiger, making fun of Tiger’s mother and excluding Tiger from her swimming party. Eventually, as Tiger matures and feels more confident in herself, she sees the truth of Abby: Abby is scared of the hurricane and insecure about her lack of athleticism. Eventually, Tiger realizes that she doesn’t care what Abby thinks of her or her appearance, and she feels kindly towards Abby on her own.
Through her interactions with Corrina, Aunt Dorie Kay, and Abby Lynn Anders, Tiger realizes that physical beauty is neither a marker of worth, nor preordained, nor overly important.
Race
As a novel set in the deep South in the late 1950s, My Louisiana Sky necessarily addresses issues of race. As she grows up, Tiger realizes that there is a whole other part of life that she doesn’t know about, that the Black townspeople often seem nicer to her family, and that once again, racial prejudice arises from fear, not from people’s differences. In the novel, race symbolizes difference more than anything else.
At the beginning of the novel, Tiger is blissfully unaware of the racism that the country was beginning to grapple with at the time of the novel’s setting. When Magnolia tells Tiger that her son has no job because “[t]hese days the world is a hard place for a young Negro man to live”(152), Tiger immediately asks her what she means. This is likely due to Saitter’s rural setting and Tiger’s working-class background; she rarely gets to go places that are segregated—like the movie theater, bus, and soda shop. However, Tiger notices racial inequity when she visits Baton Rouge. This racial awareness is one way in which Tiger’s worldview widens as she matures.
The few Black townspeople are kinder to Tiger’s family than are their white counterparts. When walking home after the embarrassing incident in the school gymnasium, “Minnie and Abner, whose father, Otis, worked with [Lonnie] at the nursery, strolled past the school yard and waved to [Tiger and Corrina]” (57). These two Black children are far kinder to Tiger and her mother than were Tiger’s white classmates just moments before. As the novel progresses, Tiger realizes this disparity and distinguishes physical difference from nonphysical difference.
Eventually, Tiger’s growing awareness of prejudice regarding physical differences, such as skin color, makes her realize the prejudice that her family faces for nonphysical differences, and she discerns where that prejudice comes from. Tiger recalls her grandmother telling her that “[p]eople are afraid of what’s different. That don’t mean different is bad. Just means different is different” (65). Granny teaches Tiger that difference is not inherently good nor bad, despite how people act. Though Tiger remembers this aphorism in regard to race, Granny’s wisdom also eventually allows Tiger to find strength and identity in her and her family’s differences, rather than feeling ashamed of them as she did at the beginning of the novel.
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By Kimberly Willis Holt
