That's why you have to stay awake – or he shows up at your door… You're good enough… that's all you need to know. (122) She learns a lot from this group of strong women, which is what she lacked in her brother's cocoon of protection and comfort. Although Ethel and the other women are lower class women, judging from where they live and their profession, they are responsible for their lives. Living with them, regardless of social circumstances, is meant to be experienced fully, a lesson that will help Cee later in the novel. Ethel can be read as Cee's surrogate mother, in the same way that Mattie is to Taylor in The Bean Trees. Both women have a positive impact on young women. Ethel's moment is when she tells Cee not to let her grandmother's inhumanity, the doctor's cruelty, and her ex-husband's frivolity decide who she really is. “It’s slavery. Somewhere inside you is this free person I'm talking about. Locate it and let it do good in the world” (126).