What is the Literal meaning and deeper meaning? I sit with them at lunch
Fried chicken on my plate
I eat with a knife and fork
“You’re not black, if you don’t use your hands to eat”
Yet I know that hands tied up the strange fruit on the trees in the south
The fruit for the crows to pluck
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop*

Explanation:

In Gainesville, Georgia, there is an ordinance that requires people to eat fried chicken with their fingers. Eating fried chicken with a knife, fork, spoon or any other utensil is strictly forbidden and illegal. I love food and am very particular about it. The idea that a town has gone so far as to codify a LAW about how to eat is WONDERFUL.

A little history about this magical law. Gainesville calls itself The Poultry Capital of the World. They even have a chicken monument in the center of town. I was surprised to hear them referred to as the Poultry Capital because I’d never associated Georgia with chicken. Call me naive, but I would have assumed the Poultry Capital was someplace in Kentucky

the bazaar because it represents the inaccessible land of freedom to the narrator. mangan’s sister because she represents domesticity and routine to the narrator. the marketplace because it represents the suburban lifestyle to the narrator. the church because it represents spiritual healing and renewal to the narrator.