Home

Three of the main characters contemplate the concept of home. To all three of these characters home is both a place and a concept. One of the characters believes she has a home, and the other two characters have a concept of home and realize they lack the physical, tangible home and may never reacquire it.

Carrie's home is real, and in her mind it is permanent. To her, the Homeplace is a place of origin and a refuge. In reality it exists and resists change longer than most other places in the region. In her mind it is a never changing safe harbor for her and those she loves. In this way, it is much like her notion of heaven.

Albion is the first character Carrie meets that has no home. His family once had land in West Virginia, but the railroad companies took it like they...