May’s sore hands symbolize her difficult life and the way these difficulties have physically and mentally hardened her. The dysfunctionality and irritability that plagues Ruth’s relationship with her mother, May, lays the foundation for the events that unfold in the novel. Though May’s abuse is verbal and the antagonism between the mother and daughter pair does not extend to the physical realm, Ruth is on many occasions preoccupied by May’s hands. Ruth remembers that, when drawing as a child in art class, she “forgot to put hands on May,” claiming that “Her hands were just the things I didn’t want to think about” (22).

Ruth remarks that May’s hands are “the size of lobsters” attributes this condition to the fact that May had to do the washing for her large family when she was just a young child (35). Into her adulthood, May continues to do manual labor, specifically finishing fabrics at the Trim ‘N Tidy and canning vegetables at home. May’s hands have the power to elicit sympathy from Ruth. When she pleads with her mother to allow her to go on a vacation, she notices May’s “red, sore hands,” and claims that “there wasn’t anything in medicine that could ever straighten them out” (284).