A Thousand Acres

Caroline announces her marriage to Frank in the Pike Journal Weekly. Rose finds out when she goes shoe shopping in town, and someone mentions the wedding after reading about it in the newspaper. Rose is furious that no one in the family knew or was invited. While Ginny assumes some mistake has been made, Rose is sure that Caroline announced the marriage in the paper to embarrass them.

At that night’s Monopoly game, the men disagree with Caroline’s wedding announcement being malicious. Annoyed that the men are telling Ginny and Rose to settle down, Rose flips the game board over, ending the game. Pete is furious, and Ginny worries that he will hurt Rose, but she does not seem to care. Ginny remembers that when Pete broke Rose’s arm, Rose made a sleeve she could put over the cast that said “PETE DID THIS,” and whenever he threatened her or acted in a way she disliked, she would threaten to put it on. She wore it once to show him that she was serious.

As they clean up the game, Ty answers the telephone and learns that Larry is in the emergency room in Mason City after a car accident. He wrecked his car while driving drunk. Ginny and Ty get in the car to get him. During the car ride, Ty tells Ginny that she and Rose need to go about handling Larry and Caroline differently. They need to stop making every slight a big deal. To appease him, Ginny agrees. As they drive, Ginny realizes she loves Ty, but also realizes that she wants and intends to have sex with Jess.

When Ginny and Ty find Larry in the emergency room, he is fully awake but not talking. The nurse allows them to leave but warns that his blood-alcohol level will come back in 10 days, so they should be prepared for him to be arrested. They drive home in silence.

Ginny decides she must take charge of the situation and scolds Larry for driving while intoxicated. She tells him that he needs to work again. She finds scolding her father to be an exhilarating reversal of parent-child roles. However, Larry only responds by saying, “I got nothing.” They drop him off at his home, telling him they will see him the next morning for breakfast.

The next morning, Ginny feeds Larry breakfast, and then he goes off to help Ty farm. Rose comes over to talk about what happened, saying that their father is dangerous and that she hates him. She reveals that sometimes she hates Ginny, too, because she links her to Larry.

Rose asks Ginny what she really thinks about Larry, and Ginny says she loves him, but he is just too used to giving orders without any pushback. Rose and Ginny agree to divvy up the work regarding Larry, putting on a “United front” in dealing with his new antics.

Ginny becomes more and more obsessed with Jess. At the same time, Harold begins talking about changing his will more often. Ginny overhears him once at a gas station talking about it and is told by the gas attendant that he only talks about it when one of his sons is in front of him.

A few days later, the Clarks’ deep freezer breaks, so Jess brings over some frozen food for Ginny to keep. When she takes him downstairs to show him where her freezer is, he kisses her. He tells her to meet him at the dump the next day. She goes back to his home with him to get the rest of the food.

When she arrives at the Clarks’ house, Howard is screaming at Loren about leaving a sprayer in the field. Jess eventually must break up an almost physical altercation between Harold and Loren. Harold calms down and goes into the living room. Jess tells Ginny that he is acting and putting on a show. He then tells her he has found someone in the area who is doing organic farming and invites her to go visit the farm with him.

That night after her farm work, Ginny begins thinking about having sex with Jess Clark. She gets aroused and when she wakes up in the middle of the night and feels Ty’s erection against her leg, she initiates having sex.

The next day, she has sex with Jess at the dump. She orgasms for the first time after they have sex while he tells her about random events at the farm. As they get dressed, Jess asks her why she does not have children, and she tells him about her pregnancy losses. He blames the water, saying that there is fertilizer nitrate runoff in the water, which is known to cause pregnancy loss. He asks if she is still trying to have a baby, and she tells him she wore her diaphragm that day. They kiss and then part ways.

At supper, Ty asks if Ginny wore her diaphragm when they had sex the previous night. She says she did not, but she just finished her period, so it’s fine. He questions her, which angers her, and she accuses him of not trusting or believing her. He explains he is just not ready to experience another pregnancy loss. He leaves, and Ginny goes upstairs to remove her diaphragm.

Ty takes out a loan from the bank to renovate and expand the hog operation. Larry is still being difficult and resistant to helping on the farm, so Ty throws himself into the hog operation, viewing it as the thing that will make everyone happy again. Construction begins on the new buildings.

Ginny takes Larry to the chiropractor in town. As she drives him, she thinks about Jess, whom she has not seen much since their rendezvous in the dump. She realizes that, while there is no way for them to be together, she can settle for living a life where she at least gets to see him.

When they arrive at the chiropractor, Larry wants Ginny to wait in the car, so they can leave promptly when he is finished. They argue, and Ginny finally relents and sits in the hot car. When he finishes, they go to lunch, and Ginny tries to encourage him to exercise more. He gets angry and tells her that she does not respect him anymore. He says that now that she has been given the farm, she does not need to placate him. She tries to tell him that is not true, but he accuses her of being lazy. He tells her a story about a disabled farmer who worked just as hard as his brothers, which made everyone respect him. He tells her that she and Rose must listen to him, and she promises that they will.

Ginny worries that Rose may know about her and Jess. As work continues on the new buildings for the hogs, Ginny invites one of the men to eat dinner with her and Ty on Tuesday. He agrees, and before he goes back to his hotel, he notes that it looks like a bad storm is coming in, and he wonders if they will be affected.

Later that night, Rose calls to say that Pete’s truck is missing, and they assume that Larry has taken it. Rose, Pete, Linda, and Pammy come over. Pete is furious, saying he will kill Larry if he damages the truck. Ty offers to go look for him, and he leaves with Pete.

Linda and Pammy fall asleep, and Rose and Ginny take them upstairs to sleep. Soon, a car pulls up, and Ty calls out to Ginny. When she comes outside, she sees Larry, who has some things he wants to say, according to Ty. He tells her that she does not need to take care of him anymore. He escalates the conversation, going on a tirade and calling her a “slut” and a “barren whore.” Ginny and Ty are shocked at his outburst, and Rose accuses him of having Alzheimer’s. Rose tells him that they didn’t ask for the farm, and it would be nice for him to reward them for everything they do for him.

Ginny remembers a time when Larry beat her severely for losing one of her shoes and being late for pickup at a school dance. The memory gives her the courage to tell him that she’s done with him, and he is on his own. She instructs him to go home to his house. Larry curses them, telling them he will get his land back. Rose pulls Ginny back inside.

Larry leaves, wandering into the storm, and Ty follows him. The storm gets worse, eventually knocking out the power. Ty returns and explains he lost sight of Larry when the storm got worse.

After Larry’s outburst, things are awkward between Ginny and Ty. They make a plan for Pete and Ty to look for Larry when the storm breaks. Ginny and Rose discuss the events of the night and talk about how other farmers they have known have suffered from mental health conditions in their old age, most likely from the chemicals they used on the plants. Rose is surprised Ginny is so calm.

Rose asks Ginny if she remembers that Larry sexually assaulted them when they were teenagers. Ginny does not remember this and is shocked at the accusation. Rose explains that she had sex with Larry for most of her teenage years because he said that if she had sex with him, he would not touch Caroline. Rose does not think he abused Caroline because he has such a different relationship with her. Rose tries to convince Ginny that she was sexually assaulted, but Ginny resists her. Rose reveals that Larry’s history of sexual assault is why she sent Pammy and Linda away to boarding school: They are now the age she was when he assaulted her. Ginny insists she was not sexually assaulted. Rose gets increasingly angrier, telling Rose that Larry won’t “get away with it” (192).

Ginny wakes up and finds Jess in her bedroom. He has snuck out of his house to tell her that Larry is at Harold’s. When Loren discovered him, he brought him inside, but Larry insisted on calling Marv Carson and his lawyer before changing. Jess tells her that everyone in town will know what happened soon because of Marv. Jess tells her that Larry told him that his daughters had sent him out into the storm, but Jess tells her he does not believe him.

Ginny tells him everything that happened the night before, including what Rose accused Larry of privately. He is upset and tells her, “they have aimed to destroy us, and I don’t know why” (196), referring to both of their fathers.

Ty comes home, exhausted, and reveals that Pete wanted to shoot Larry last night. He continues to treat Ginny coolly, not revealing if he agrees with what Larry said the previous night. He leaves to go check on the fields.

Ginny goes to check on her tomato plants and is surprised that they are relatively unharmed. She thinks about how she feels so restrained in her life and is ready to break free of her restraints.

The family realizes they need to keep up appearances, so they try to act normally while increasing the frequency of their trips to town. They try to assuage everyone’s worries about their apparent falling out with Larry.

One day, Marv Carson comes to speak with Ginny. He is concerned about how the fight with Larry will affect the loan he gave Ty, especially since it was one of the largest ones the bank gave out. Ginny tries to calm him down, explaining that things are still the same on the farm. He warns her that uncertainty and change make him nervous, and that times like these are when enemies can be made.

Later, Harold comes by to give Ginny advice. He suggests that the family get together at the church supper and work their problems out. Ginny agrees. As the days leading up to the meeting at the church go by, Ty and Ginny keep their distance from each other.

Ginny imagines what it would be like to visit a psychiatrist to discuss all their family problems. She even calls to schedule an appointment with one but hangs up the phone when someone gets on the line. She decides to speak to her pastor, Henry Dodge. She is excited to talk to someone, so she rushes into town to find him.

However, when she arrives at the church, Henry is not in his office like she imagined he would be. She waits for a while, and eventually, Henry comes in from mowing the grass. He begins to tell her not to worry about Howard but is cut off by the phone ringing. Suddenly, it does not feel right to talk to Henry, so she leaves quickly and without saying goodbye.

Later that night, she meets Rose on Larry’s front porch. They wonder if they treated him badly, and what his hold over them is. They agree to hear him out at the church supper the next day.

Ginny is surprised at Larry’s disheveled appearance the next day. Rose argues that his appearance shows how much they are doing for him. Larry seems to be more submissive and keeps telling people about the terrible retirement homes people’s children put them in. When Ginny finally speaks to Larry, he tells her the same thing. Rose is convinced this is a ploy to make people feel bad for him.

Jess comes in and tells Ginny that Harold wants them all to sit together. He also says he is wary of the plan because Harold is known for causing drama. Jess tells Ginny that he went to visit the organic farmer and was impressed and inspired by his farm.

Everyone gets food and sits down. Harold has chosen the table that is in the middle of the room. Harold begins taunting Ginny and Rose, saying loudly that they are a “Pair of bitches” who have not apologized for sending Larry into the storm alone. Jess pushes Harold back into his seat to calm him down. Rose, annoyed with the situation, gets up. Harold then lunges at Jess, telling him he knows what he is doing, trying to get his farm. Jess punches his father. When Ginny glances at Larry, he looks slightly proud.

The family leaves, but Ginny keeps asking where they are going. In retrospect, she wishes they had left the farm and gotten far away from their father and his expectations.