In the chapter on clothing, Agee discusses the various clothing ensembles each member of each family wears, in which occasions. The clothing is worn and dirty and ill-covers corporal parts; many of the children don’t even bother with wearing it, unless they are in public. Agee describes the clothing of the Gudgers, Ricketts, and Woods as he describes their lack of plumbing and an efficient way to clean and use the bathroom (remember they use leaves and pine cones as toilet paper). However, the issues the families have with dressing themselves manifest social issues.
This is most apparent with the mothers, who make themselves new clothing only after their families are well-dressed. Paralee is dressed well because she is getting to the age where she must attract a match. The young children are dressed well because material for their costumes is cheaper. Thus the mothers sacrifice--Mrs Woods must go into town with a dress made of this cotton that is cut low so she can nurse in it. The material of the dress is so thin her nipples show through and the men of the town stare at her body less than covertly, consistently. This is her Sunday best. The clothing is portrayed not only as a way to show social stratification but also to show how public the stratification can be. It is not like the lack of plumbing, irritations resulting from lack of wealth that are suffered in private. The clothing is a very public humiliation, one that cannot be avoided.
-Jessica Grabert
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