West Virginia serves as the setting for most of what happens in Missing May. The old trailer home serves as a symbol of contrasts. It represents the low income of the family but it also represents the love that binds May, Ob, and Summer. The contrast serves to emphasize that the love of the household is much more important than its poverty. Ob makes her a sewing set and May maintains a garden that supplies food for the family, and Summer seems to have plenty of fun and to be happy with the food she receives. Underlying the description of the house and its environs is Summer's fear that it all could be taken from her; the emotional support of May and Ob means everything to her.

May's garden serves as a symbol of May's nurturing personality. She was a big, heavy woman, who seemed full of good...