Flatness

I have reached an "ah-ha" moment about the idea of flatness.  When we think of flatness we think of lack of uniqueness and individuality. At this point in the story, Cecelia obviously felt like she was not an individual. This is the reason why she did several actions to scream out for the attention she lacked: the wedding dress and even her first suicide attempt. Her need to be different and noticed led to her ultimate death. The one spot she found the was not flat, the fence, is the spot of her death. Once that was taken away, her suicide became less noticed by others and on page 90, most of the town had "forgotten about Cecelia's suicide." Ironically, she was buried in the non-flat cemetary. However, all the sisters need individuality. The lawn represents their need to stand out from the rest of the neighborhood's tidiness as an act of individuality and social recognition.