Bertha Holly Character Analysis in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

Seth’s wife, and the co-owner of the boarding house. Although Seth doesn’t like Bynum’s folk magic, Bertha partakes in some of the old man’s rituals. Seth criticizes her for this, pointing out that she is combining Bynum’s spiritualism with Christianity, along with other, simpler superstitions. Despite his criticism, she merely says, “It don’t hurt none. I can’t say if it help...but it don’t hurt none.” By saying this, she reveals her flexibility, her willingness to embrace multiple worldviews. This is the temperament responsible for her easygoing nature and her ready acceptance of people like Bynum and even Herald Loomis, men her husband doesn’t trust.

Bertha Holly Quotes in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

The Joe Turner’s Come and Gone quotes below are all either spoken by Bertha Holly or refer to Bertha Holly. 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:

SETH: […] All that old mumbo jumbo nonsense. I don’t know why I put up with it.

BERTHA: You don’t say nothing when he bless the house.

SETH: I just go along with that ’cause of you. You around here sprinkling salt all over the place…got pennies lined up across the threshold…all that heebie jeebie stuff. I just put up with that ’cause of you. I don’t pay that kind of stuff no mind. And you going down there to the church and wanna come come [sic] home and sprinkle salt all over the place.

BERTHA: It don’t hurt none. I can’t say if it help…but it don’t hurt none.

Related Characters: Bertha Holly (speaker), Seth Holly (speaker), Bynum Walker

Related Symbols: Pigeons

Page Number and Citation: 1

Explanation and Analysis:

Seth and Bertha have this conversation in the kitchen at the beginning of the play while watching Bynum enact a folk magic ritual outside the window. This is the first moment in which Seth expresses his strong skepticism of superstition and spirituality in general, calling it “old mumbo jumbo nonsense.” When he says that he doesn’t know why he puts up with this sort of behavior, Wilson signals to the audience that Seth is a no-nonsense kind of person, thereby foreshadowing his vehement dislike of Herald Loomis, whom Seth thinks brings chaos and unsavoriness into his home. What’s interesting, though, 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 earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. E

Jeremy just young. He don’t know what he getting into. That gal don’t mean him no good. She’s just using him to keep from being by herself. That’s the worst use of a man you can have. You ought to be glad to wash him out of your hair. I done seen all kind of men. I done seen them come and go through here. Jeremy ain’t had enough to him for you. You need a man who’s got some understanding and who willing to work with that understanding to come to the best he can. You got your time coming. You just tries too hard and can’t understand why it don’t work for you. Trying to figure it out don’t do nothing but give you a troubled mind. Don’t no man want a woman with a troubled mind.

You get all that trouble off your mind and just when it look like you ain’t never gonna find what you want […] you look up and it’s standing right there. That’s how I met my Seth. You gonna look up one day and find everything you want standing right in front of you.

Related Characters: Bertha Holly (speaker), Jeremy Furlow, Molly Cunningham, Mattie Campbell

Page Number and Citation: 74

Explanation and Analysis:

Bertha says this to Mattie Campbell after Jeremy runs away with Molly Cunningham, leaving Mattie alone after she has just moved in with him. In the wake of this unfortunate situation, Mattie has once again been talking to Bynum, who has given her a good luck charm and who frequently asks her if she’s keeping it under her pillow. As somebody who’s flexible when it comes to spirituality, Bertha advises Mattie to not dwell on “trying to figure” out her life. As such, she tries to disabuse Mattie of Bynum’s influence, suggesting that the young woman pay no heed to 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

Bertha Holly Character Timeline in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

The timeline below shows where the character Bertha Holly appears in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Bertha Holly prepares breakfast in the kitchen of her boarding house while her husband, Seth, looks... (full context)

Seth continues watching Bynum, worried the old man is about to drink pigeon blood, though Bertha assures her husband that this isn’t the case. To take his mind off such matters,... (full context)

Racism in Post-Slavery America Theme Icon

...referring to Martha Pentecost, a woman Seth knows who apparently looks just like Zonia. When Bertha asks if he told Herald he knows where his wife is, Seth says he didn’t,... (full context)

...church just outside town, a fact that only contributes to his mysterious aspect. Seth reminds Bertha that Martha—whom he’s now sure is Loomis’s wife—stayed in the boarding house for a little... (full context)

When Selig leaves, Bertha enters and Bynum tells her that Herald has hired the People Finder. “You can call... (full context)

The next morning, Seth raves at the kitchen table, telling Bertha he’s going to kick Herald out after the scene he made the previous night. Bertha... (full context)

...enough. You stay till Saturday.” After glaring at Seth, Loomis leaves for the day, and Bertha ushers Seth out the back door to go work on his pots and pans. At... (full context)

When the lights come up onstage, Bynum and Mattie are eating breakfast while Bertha works over the stove. Bynum talks to Mattie about the charm cloth he gave her,... (full context)

Seth comes inside, sees Herald, and reminds him that it’s Tuesday. Annoyed, Bertha pulls her husband out of the kitchen, leaving Herald and Mattie alone. They talk idly... (full context)

It is Saturday morning, and Bertha is making breakfast while Bynum, Herald, and Zonia sit at the table waiting for Selig... (full context)

After Herald and Zonia leave, Bertha remarks that his behavior toward Mattie was “the closest [she] come to seeing him act... (full context)

As Bertha, Bynum, and Mattie laugh, Seth enters and joins their hysterics. Eventually, he says that Herald... (full context)

Bertha Holly Character Analysis

Bertha Holly Quotes in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

The Play Quotes

Bertha Holly Character Timeline in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone