Eatonville: a microcosm
Dramatic yet unsurprising changes take place in Eatonville as it grows. For good in-text examples, take page 47. Two details of recent changes are described, the new Starks house and the spitting pots, but along the way a lot more is revealed. Joe's new house, for one, is not just extremely fancy - it's the only large house in the village and it bears an uncanny resemblance to the house of rich white slave-owning landowners from pre-Civil War times. We're provided the spitting pot situation as an example of the frivolous luxuries Joe has procured with the wealth he's effectively diverted from the people of the town to himself with all his positions of power - Mayor, postmaster, landlord, and storekeeper. Essentially, it's clear as day that Joe is exploiting the people of Eatonville and is very corrupt. What gets the people in the town in particular, though, is that Joe Starks is black. As explained on p. 48, "It was bad enough for white people, but when one of