Read this description of Phippsburg from Lizzie Bright and
the Buckminster Boy
What aspect of Phippsburg contributes to Turner's internal
conflict at this point in the story?
So [Turner) went on toward the sea. He passed the
yellow-shuttered house, half wishing that Mrs. Hurd were
on the porch. He passed the picket fence of Mrs. Cobb's,
steering as clear of it as if it were the wall of Jericho about
to fall. He kept his face to the sea breeze as the line of
white houses at the end of Parker Head sputtered, revived
in a solid row, and finally gave out and let the road twist by
itself up into cedars.
O The town is very small, and everybody can observe
and comment on what Turner is doing.
O The town is built by the sea, and Turner is afraid of one
day being unexpectedly swept away by the high waves
of the ocean.
O The town is occupied mainly by women who remind
Turner of characters and places from the Bible.
O The town's houses are all white and look the same,
which makes the town seem boring, which makes
Turner want to leave.
Turner held himself to a slow walk, his hands politely out
of his pockets. (Who knew if Mrs. Cobb might still be
watching him from some murky spot where dark things
lurked?) But as he climbed into the thicket of trees and the
air grew cooler, and as the road thinned to a path, and as
the cedars gave way to birches, then aspens, then pines,
Turner felt as though he were taking off the black robes