Content Warning: This section makes references to sexual abuse, physical abuse, neglect, and addiction.

One of the symbols that is present throughout Christy is that of cabins and homes, specifically about the residents of the Cove. Whenever Catherine Marshall portrays Christy as visiting a family in the Cove, she goes into a detailed description of the family’s cabin—its sights, sounds, and smells, and often a portrayal of its setting as well. The symbol of cabins functions as a means of describing the character traits of the new people Christy is encountering. The unique characteristics of the cabin symbolize certain aspects of the nature of its inhabitants. For example, Miss Alice’s home is simple, proper, and warm, just as she is, and Doctor MacNeill’s cabin is practical and functional but also mysterious, with a secret room and connections to a long and hidden backstory.

This dynamic especially holds true for the mountain folk whom Christy visits. The squalor she sees at the O’Teale cabin mirrors the social conditions she encounters inside, where the family’s disabled son is kept in a pen; the Spencer cabin is marked by light, homeliness, and music, just like Fairlight and her family; and the Taylor cabin is set in a forbidding locale, hinting at the dangers posed by Bird’s-Eye and Lundy.