Spoon River Anthology is full of them. They speak of love, hate, greed, and anger. They are the final words of a people trying to tell their tale. A few of them, women mostly, seem to be asking for justice to their deaths. Or at least, wanting someone to listen. .
Amanda Barker died during her childbirth. When it was known by her husband that she could not handle a pregnancy. She speaks from the grave and proclaims that he "slew me to gratify his hatred" (31). .
Then there was Minerva Jones, the village poet. She was not really accepted by the town because of her funny walk and heavy body. A man named Butch Weldy pursued her and finally raped her. Fearing the town's reaction she went to a doctor and attempted to have an abortion. She says, "and I sank into death, growing numb from the feet up" (44). She died before she was ever able to publish her poetry. Butch Weldy raped a woman, a punishable offensive in this day and age, but nothing was done to bring Minerva justice. .
Another story, Elsa Wertman, was a peasant girl from Germany. She worked for a man named Thomas Greene, who raped her one day when his wife was away. "One day Mrs. Greene said she understood, and would make no trouble for me" (132). Mrs. Greene, being "sympathetic," decided to adopt the child. "And all went well and the child was born - they were so kind to me" (132). She was forced to give up her son and never claim him because of the politics of the day. .
The saddest story though, was Nellie Clark. She was only 8 years old when a neighbor boy raped her. She says she "told my Mother; and that my father got a pistol" (84). He would have killed Charlie, except that his mother begged for his life. Nellie later married a much older man who never heard the story of what happened to her. Later on in the marriage he found out, and with the town backing him, he deserted Nellie. She died the next winter. Rape is a horrible experience anyway, but for Nellie it followed her for the rest of her life.