The seasons are heavily symbolic to Mary. On the farm, Mary defines the phases of her life—including her happiness and sadness—according to the seasons. Summer is dreaded by most farmers as the heat is bad for crops and life in general, but Mary especially hates the summer. For Mary, the season reminds her of how poor she and Dick is. The heat inside their shabby house is not much different than outside. In fact, with the lack of a real roof and the smallness of the place, it gets even hotter indoors. Summer’s heat also makes Mary feel restless and hopeless, and when faced with the unending heat, Mary thinks of her time in the city when she was barely aware of seasons. Living on the farm, she is now acutely aware of the seasons and how they affect not only the farm but people, a concept that is foreign to Dick Turner. Dick is portrayed as a man who is neither ruled by the seasons nor free of them. He simply accepts them and moves on. Dick finds Mary’s reliance on the seasons strange, almost unnatural.