Harold and Larry are the leaders of their two families and their obsessions of money and property completely out-rank family matters. Even the two husbands, Ty and Pete, are just as entranced in it all. When Ginny tries to talk to her husband, Ty, about her sister, Rose, the obsession is apparent: "'Rose looked beat when we left the party.' Ty said, 'Those Slurrystores are great. They hold eighty thousand gallons of hog slurry'" (24). Ginny is concerned for her sister, but Ty doesn't even here her because farming is all that matters to him. As the two of them get ready for bed, what would normally be an intimate time for most married couples, Ginny and Ty discuss money and market prices of tractors and land, not the most flirtatious pillow talk. Ginny herself knows the values of her family's farmland through generations (22-23). "In the same way you and know our ancestors place of birth," I said to Kyle, "the Cook family knows what their ancestors paid for land." The big announcement to the family in chapter 4 is that Larry makes is that he intends to split up the farm into 3 equal parts, one for each of his daughters. His main reason for doing this is because of the insanely high amount of inheritance taxes they would have to pay if he did not divide up the land. I explained it to Kyle as such: "This is a major turning point in the plot. This decision by Larry sets of a giant chain reaction, which is told in the rest of the novel. This disastrous chain reaction happens because of a fear of taxes." Kyle smartly replied, "It sounds like this family isn't too well held together." "Just you wait.".
Chapter 4 provides valuable insight into the complex workings of the Cook family and how this family will eventually fall apart. The first time Rose and Caroline are mentioned in this chapter conveys important hints to their respective places in the family: "I noticed a little group, including Rose and Caroline, as well as Ty and Pete, clustered on Harold's back porch, with my father talking earnestly at the center.
