Previous
Ava’s Mum
In “Gaps in the Hickory,” Carter is Jeanie and Jackson’s child, Izzy and Delores’s grandchild, and Lucy’s older sibling. He presents as a young boy but is transgender and seems to identify as a girl (though the story doesn’t say so explicitly). He feels most himself when he has long hair and wears his sister’s clothing, but he has to be secretive about it, since a lot of people who live in his rural Mississippi town—especially his father—hold bigoted views. In the story’s present, Carter is grieving the recent death of Izzy, the only person who really accepted him for who he was. For much of the story, Carter (like the rest of his family, minus Izzy) believes that his grandpa Denver ran off with another woman before he was born. Because of this, he has no idea that he really has another grandmother, Delores, who not only would accept him as he is, but who would also empathize with his struggles with identity. At the end of the story, Jeanie, fearing for Carter’s safety, takes Carter to live with Delores in New Orleans.
Carter Quotes in Foreign Soil
The Foreign Soil quotes below are all either spoken by Carter or refer to Carter. 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:
).
Gaps in the Hickory Quotes
When Carter wriggle into the top, his whole body get to singin’. He stand up straight, look in the mirror. His mind unfog itself.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Delores put a hand on Ella’s shoulder, pull her back into the living room. “Quiet, chile. You gon scare him away! That pickney don’t know us from Adam.” But even as Delores say it, she know it ain’t true. Minute that chile an her lay eyes on each other, they gon know they kin. It’s gon feel like they finally home.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Foreign Soil LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Carter Character Timeline in Foreign Soil
The timeline below shows where the character Carter appears in Foreign Soil. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Gaps in the Hickory
...around in the yard outside. Jackson is sitting on the porch drinking a beer, and Carter, their son, is talking to Jackson. Jeanie notices that Carter has been digging his fingernails...
(full context)
Jackson stares at Carter as though he wants to ask him something, but no words come out. Jackson asks...
(full context)
...finishes cutting a strip of fabric out of a white piece of cloth. He tells Carter that he’ll have to “come ridin’ with [him]” at some point. Carter hates that Jackson...
(full context)
Jackson notes what a good night it is for “ridin’” and continues to cut fabric. Carter recognizes the fabric: it’s his sister Lucy’s old nightgown. It seems wrong that Jackson is...
(full context)
Jackson is taking forever to go ridin’—he’s been preparing since morning. Carter watches now as Jackson double knots the old nightgown around a stick. Jackson is a...
(full context)
...hasn’t been able to tell Ella that Izzy died. She’s been thinking about the kids, Carter and Lucy, a lot lately; Izzy always swore she’d take them out of that house...
(full context)
...that Nate or his people will hurt any Black people—lynchings don’t happen anymore. No, it’s Carter that Jeanie is most worried about.
(full context)
It was Izzy who told Jeanie about Carter. She told Jeanie she’d caught Carter dressed up in a lacy blouse, Izzy’s old heels,...
(full context)
...for Ella. Ella joins her at the table and drinks her cocoa. Delores thinks about Carter and starts to cry. Ella looks at Delores’s teary eyes and asks when they’re going...
(full context)
...Jackson is cutting up her clothes. Jackson promises that he’s only cutting up old clothes. Carter turns and looks at his sister. He likes the dress she’s wearing; Izzy bought it...
(full context)
Jackson drives away later that night, and Carter and Lucy watch his truck as it disappears into the distance. Carter loves his sister....
(full context)
...her nails anymore. She tells Delores she can’t believe Delores isn’t going to check on Carter. Delores snaps at Ella to stop talking about Carter. When Ella won’t listen, Delores tells...
(full context)
...Delores and says she didn’t want her to cry—she just wants Delores to go get Carter, especially since Delores “know what it be like out there.” Delores freezes. She asks Ella...
(full context)
...be so normal, and now everything’s changed. Lucy enters the kitchen, excited to eat spaghetti. Carter follows her inside, looking sullen. Izzy’s warning about Jackson finding out about Carter echoes inside...
(full context)
...door—she doesn’t want to receive a letter full of bad news, especially if it’s about Carter.
(full context)
Delores left Newmarket, Mississippi when Jackson was about Carter’s age. It was hard for her, but she and Izzy thought that was best; Jackson...
(full context)
Carter still hasn’t touched his food. Instead, he traces the porcelain plate’s floral pattern. Gram Izzy...
(full context)
...hits her: maybe, in leaving Delores the house, Izzy gave Delores a way to save Carter before it’s too late.
(full context)
Carter continues to trace the porcelain plate’s floral pattern. He thinks about Gram Izzy. She never...
(full context)
Carter runs to Lucy’s room, opens the wardrobe, and shuts the door. Then he takes off...
(full context)
Jeanie opens the door to Lucy’s room quietly. She sees Carter standing in front of the mirror, his eyes closed, dressed in Lucy’s clothes. Lucy sneaks...
(full context)
Carter and Lucy hold hands in the back seat as Jeanie backs out of the garage....
(full context)
...see who she’s been staring at. She peers down at the street and cries, “Izzy’s Carter!” She calls out to him. Delores can hardly contain her joy: she knows that as...
(full context)
