The grandparents had a great deal of influence in the family circle, especially on the children during their formative years. No
real Southerner has ever been able to consider very seriously the highly touted ancestor worship of the Chinese. It is watery by comparison. Teethed on "what we had before the War," weaned on the accomplishments of successful kin, nurtured on the pronouncement of dominant family traits, and lullabied on the recitation of genealogical alliances of several generations, no Southerner could ever mature without a profound sense of family. This spilled over into awareness about other families in the county, and one learned what to expect from different tribes in both looks and actions. 2 This knowledge came largely from the grandparents and usually in the long, conversational family evenings before television, radio, or accessible automobiles. In the winters the gathering was around the crackling fire in the grandmother's room, in the summers on the wide veranda outside her bedroom door. The grandfather was the raconteur, the grandmother the critic, prompter, and censor. Before they were five, the children knew that "Blood will tell," and "Pretty is as pretty does," which they learned from the grandmother. From the grandfather, the boy learned "You can't make pound cake out of manure," a comforting maxim indeed when one is forced to assume responsibility for the actions of others, which happens frequently to a farmer. Which section of Pieces of the Past would MOST LIKELY be different if the story took place in a setting like the one described by Ferrol Sams? A) Section 2 B) Section 3 C) Section 5 D) Section 6
