“Crop and Weather”
Smarsh writes, “How can you talk about the poor child without addressing the country that let her be so? I was raised to put all responsibility on the individual, on the bootstraps with which she ought to pull herself up. But it’s the way of things that environment changes outcomes…The crop depends on the weather.” The crop is metaphorical of the children who are compelled to grow up in poverty whereas the weather refers to the systems and structures which make it problematic for them to rise above their poverty. The children are planted in poverty and they dwell in it throughout their lives.
Saint
Smarsh recounts, "Betty's whole life amounted to variations on that moment at the Cotillion: doing something kind of an underdog. That's the kind of love I would have wanted to surround with: indiscriminate and generous, from people like Betty had every excuse to harden their hearts but never did. She was no saint, never pretended to be. But she would have loved you not just because you were mine but because you existed in a world she knew wasn't easy for anybody." The metaphoric saint indicates that Betty was not an absolutely flawless individual. Nevertheless, she unconditionally appreciates individuals. Her flaws do not diminish her genuine love for other people. Accordingly, imperfection and humaneness are not mutually exclusive.
“Mark of Poverty”
Smarsh writes, “I thus was the proverbial teen pregnancy, my very existence the mark of poverty. I was in a poor girl’s lining like a penny in a purse- not worth much, according to the economy, but kept in production.” Being born to a poor and teen mother automatically makes Smarsh ‘a mark of poverty.’ Her mother lacks adequate resources to bring her up comfortably. Moreover, the metaphorical penny accentuates the extreme cycle of paucity into which Smarsh was born.
Beet
Betty reminds Smarsh, “Your face turned red as a beet.” Here, Betty is referring to the occasion when Smarsh chocked. The beet-like redness confirms that the chocking was so pervasive and fatal that it threatened her life.
Rain
Smarsh explains, “Reagan said that big, private money would "trickle down" to us through the economy, as though we were standing outside with our mouths open praying for money to rain." Reagan's assurance is not realistic because a literal interpretation of his assertion implies that all people will get free money which will help reduce their poverty. The imagery of raining money would not be practicable in the real world, considering the economic implications of the Great Depression.
