Linden Hills

During a conversation with Ruth, Norman, and Willie, Lester says that “up means down in the Hills. Ain’t that a bust? Down toward Tupelo Drive. They’re scraping and clawing to move closer to that weirdo, Nedeed, and his damn funeral parlor” (39). Lester is describing how progressing up the ranks of Linden Hills also means descending the hill toward the “damn funeral parlor” that sits beside Nedeed’s house. This phrase is also highly symbolic as it alludes to Dante’s Inferno; the neighborhood’s drives mirror the concentric circles of hell, and the very center of hell is home to the devil (Nedeed) and to death (the funeral parlor).

Telling Willie why he decided not to go to university, Lester says, “Ya, ever wonder why they put fences around these schools, White?” before going on to say that it’s “to get you used to the idea that what they have in there is different, special. Something to be separated from the rest of the world. They get you thinking fences, man, don’t you see it?” (45). Here, fences clearly symbolize exclusivity and superiority, separating those who are “special” from those who aren’t. While Lester is referring to universities, this way of “thinking fences” also applies to Linden Hills as a whole. First, the neighborhood itself is separated from Wayne Avenue by a river which then had “a marble bannister” erected along its side (13). Furthermore, each house in the neighborhood is typically closed in by a series of fences or large bushes, keeping each house separate from the next. While the original Luther Nedeed envisioned Linden Hills as a community, it has now come to symbolize a “thinking fences” type of place, where individuals want to feel superior to or different from those around them.