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Toward the end of the novel, Ginny Cook Smith learns that her sister, Rose Cook Lewis, has been sleeping with Jess Clark, with whom Ginny herself has been having an affair. Furious with her sister for betraying her, Ginny researches poisons and cooks Rose some sausages poisoned with hemlock, which she places in a jar. Ginny, knowing that Jess is a vegetarian, is hoping that Rose will eat the sausages at some point and die. The jar comes to symbolize Ginny’s (seemingly-irrational) capacity for hatred, jealousy, and revenge. Her desire to be revenged on her abusive father has corrupted Ginny more than it’s punished Larry, leading the two sisters to become broken down by hatred and bitterness, and to turn on each other. Over the years, the jar remains in Rose’s cellar, uneaten—symbolizing Ginny’s longstanding, unrelenting hatred, and her inability to really move on in her life while still burdened by her past and her desire for revenge. (At the same time, some critics have noted that the “jar of sausages” murder plot seems a bit far-fetched and out-of-character even for the jealous Ginny, though it does echo the plot of King Lear.)
The Jar of Sausages Quotes in A Thousand Acres
The A Thousand Acres quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Jar of Sausages. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Book 2, Chapter 9 Quotes
I have this recurring nightmare about grabbing things that might hurt me, like that straight razor Daddy used to have, or a jar of some poison that spills on my hands. I know I shouldn’t and I watch myself, but I can’t resist.
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Rose differs from her sister in many important ways; one of these is her acquisitiveness. Rose has no illusions about her personality: she was always a greedy person, even when she was a young child (or dreaming, as here). Whenever she saw something she liked, she had to have it immediately—even if the item in question was bad for her. Rose knows perfectly well that her greediness is a flaw: she recognizes that sometimes, she desires things that are bad for her; hence her nightmare about grabbing razor blades and poison. And yet Rose is powerless to change who she Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt.
Book 5, Chapter 39 Quotes
One of the jars of sausage was close to the edge of the table. I pushed it back and looked at Jess again. For the first time in weeks what was unbearable felt bearable.
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In this passage, Ginny has fixed a jar of poisoned sausages, designed to kill her sister, Rose. Rose has offended Ginny by sleeping with Jess Clark, Ginny’s former lover. Ginny had thought of Jess as a symbol of escape and freedom from Larry, and had seemingly truly fallen in love with him. Now, instead of hating Jess for his manipulation and deception, Ginny takes out her sense of betrayal by hating her sister, and even going so far as to try and kill her. (Whether this plot twist is plausible or not is arguable, but it does echo the events Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi
Book 5, Chapter 40 Quotes
I continued to behave as if I was living in the sight of all our neighbors, as Mr. Cartier had told us to. I waited for Rose to die, but the weather was warm for sauerkraut and liver sausage—that was a winter dish.
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The strength, but also the weakness, of Ginny’s murder plot is that it’s slow-acting and relies heavily on chance. As a result, it’s less likely that Ginny will be linked to the murder—but until Rose dies, Ginny has to twiddle her thumbs and wait. Moreover, until that time, Ginny can’t focus on anything but the murder. There’s a constant cloud of vengeance hanging over her—her life is “stalled” until the day that Rose dies.Ginny’s murder plot is intended to free Ginny from her anxieties about life on the farmland: by killing Rose, she can (she assumes) run off with Jess Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asper
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The Jar of Sausages Symbol Timeline in A Thousand Acres
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Jar of Sausages appears in A Thousand Acres. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Book 5, Chapter 39
...completely “premeditated.” She finds hemlock growing near a river, and cooks into a dish of sausage and sauerkraut. She then cans the dish and brings it over to Rose’s house, where...
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Book 6, Chapter 42
...to get a note in return: she was sure Rose would have eaten the canned sausage by now.
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Book 6, Chapter 44
Ginny tells Rose that she tried to kill her years ago with the jar of poisoned sausages. Rose barely reacts; she explains that after Jess abandoned her she put...
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Book 6, Chapter 45
...and drives back to the farm. She goes down to the cellar and finds the jar of poisoned sausages. She also notices some old tins of DDT. Ginny takes the sausages...
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